


Inflection Point

by FenroarGreyfront



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Action, Canon Compliant, Drama, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Humor, In Character, Romance, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25758673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FenroarGreyfront/pseuds/FenroarGreyfront
Summary: Yuno is stuck tending to a drunk Noelle, who mistakenly reveals her feelings for Asta. Clandestine meetings and battles of wind versus water ensue, bringing about an unexpected and physical shift in the unlikely pair’s relationship. [Yunoelle. Canonverse-ish. Eventual Smut.]
Relationships: Noelle Silva & Yuno, Noelle Silva/Yuno
Comments: 121
Kudos: 282





	1. Don't Tell Asta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set a couple of years past the elf arc, so everyone's around eighteen or nineteen. I'm only caught up to the very end of the elf arc, so there will be no references to the newer Heart/Spade Kingdom arc. I'm also aware of the Yuno reveal, but there are no explicit references to that. You can assume that he's chosen to keep that detail under wraps, and no one else knows about it.
> 
> I know there are probably only about three people out there that ship these two. You beautiful rare birds, this is for you.

* * *

**_INFLECTION POINT_ **

**_1\. Don't Tell Asta_ **

* * *

Yuno had just escaped the War Merit Ceremony afterparty — or, "gathering", as they called it, in an attempt to give the event some legitimacy. It was apparently a tradition reserved for all magic knights above drinking age, and an opportunity for more senior knights to impose some light alcohol-related hazing on the younger recruits.

In typical Yuno fashion, he had slipped out after a stein of beer, not wanting to partake in his comrades' tomfoolery. Already he had felt just a slight buzz, and a very slight dulling of his mana from the alcohol consumption, and had no desire to see what more would feel like.

And so he sits in silence, taking in the night air, waiting for his buzz to dissipate before he sets course for the Golden Dawn Headquarters.

He's alone for all of five minutes before he hears someone stumble out of building, and let out a heavy sigh and disgruntled groan. Tracking the sound, he turns his head to see that it's in fact Noelle Silva, standing with her back to him, face in her hands, continuing to groan into them.

He cocks an eyebrow, observing her wavering form.

He'd seen her inside earlier, doing her usual routine with Asta — yelling at him for doing something boneheaded, blushing, pointing out that she's _"royalty, you know."_

She turns her head slightly, making eye contact with him and immediately jumping out of her skin.

"What?" she half snaps, half slurs, as she visibly attempts to stand straight upon noticing her onlooker.

It was strange. She was insufferably noisy and annoying, but he respected her as an ally and a powerful mage in her own right ever since he'd fought alongside her during the Royal Knights exam. However, the force to be reckoned with standing before him was nowhere near the vision of graceful and majestic power. Apparently, when it came to the youngest Silva, such effortless elegance was reserved solely for the battlefield.

"Nothing," he replies in his usual nonchalance, noting the different version of snippiness she'd just presented to him. It was a cold bark — nothing like the flustered stammering she took to around Asta.

She blinks back at him, looking at him as though he's said something incredibly irritating.

Any other person — namely, a _not_ socially awkward person — would have followed up the curt reply with a question, or some small talk. But Yuno is not one for needless drivel, so the two remain staring at each other in silence.

It's after a few moments that she begins to shift her feet as though she's biting back the urge to say something, and he finds that he's not remotely curious about what it could be, as it likely doesn't concern him.

Another beat passes and she sighs and begrudgingly walks over to the bench he is sitting on, her arms crossed.

"Can I sit?" she asks, though it's spoken like a command.

He says nothing and moves as far away as possible to the other side of the bench - which is not far away at all, considering its relatively small size.

They continue to sit in silence, him staring up at the night sky, her doing whatever she's doing — he's unsure because he's not looking. Even so, he can feel the irritation radiating off of her, so he turns his head to see why it feels like she's about to blow a gasket, when he sees that she is face down, cradling her head in her hands.

The sight is odd enough for him to wonder what's wrong with her. Perhaps she was upset that she had to sit next to him.

"Do you want the bench to yourself?" he asks.

She doesn't bother to look at him and just shakes her head, which is still in her hands.

"No, I'm just…"

Her voice is muffled, but he can hear the slurring in her words, and it has been so very obvious from the second he saw her swaying form.

"You're drunk," he finishes for her, watching her visibly stiffen.

She says nothing — doesn't even deny it, or have a barb to throw back in his face, thus confirming his guess.

"Is there a reason you have to be drunk out here instead of in there with your squad?" he asks.

Though it sounds like he's insensitively trying to get her to leave him alone, it's a genuine question.

"I'm clearly not feeling well right now, so you could stand to be less of a dick for a moment," she snaps, the words still muffled.

It's hard to surprise Yuno, but he's momentarily taken aback at the vulgarity, having never heard royalty, much less the dainty Noelle Silva, use such language. Perhaps she was more drunk than he thought.

"Then go home," he says — again, not out of insensitivity, but what he considers to be genuine advice.

"I'm not gonna make anyone else leave the party just to take me home right now," comes her exasperated, muffled reply.

"You can't ride a broom by yourself?"

"I — th — they say you shouldn't do that drunk!" she says a little too defensively.

He continues to take in the pathetic sight of the royal next to him, sloppily drunk and hiding behind her hands and pigtails.

"Right," he says.

He isn't sure what else to say, and more than anything wants to pop back in and let Mimosa and Klaus know that he's heading back to HQ like he had originally planned. Yet, for some reason, he feels it would be awkward and probably wrong to leave the plastered royal alone in her sorry state.

"I can take you home."

She visibly tenses again and he's not sure why. He was being uncharacteristically chivalrous, after all — which is only half true, since there was nothing else on the agenda for him tonight, and he's not so sure he would've offered otherwise.

"I was going to leave now anyway," he continues.

Yuno can sense the gears turning in her head, and can already feel that her pride is getting in the way of taking up the offer, which they both knew was her best chance out of here. The only alternative was her squad coming out a couple of hours later to find the disgraced royal passed out on the bench, likely covered in her own vomit.

But, her reply takes too long for his liking, so he stands up.

"Good luck then," he says, beginning to conjure his wind transport, her pigtails swaying in response, and she immediately sits up, cheeks a harsh pink from both the pressure of her hands, and her apparent excessive alcohol consumption.

"Wait!"

Yuno calms the wind back down as she struggles to stand.

"Um. Yes," she says with a nod. Though the reply makes little sense, the meaning is understood.

Wordlessly he quickly conjures enough wind so that both rise from the ground several feet up, panic immediately spreading on her face as she struggles to maintain balance.

"There's no cause for panic. It's as stable as the ground," he reassures her.

"I wasn't panicking," she says with quiet snippiness as she crosses her arms.

"Alright then."

He then wills the wind to move them out of the street at amazing speed — which is apparently not impressive to her, as she stumbles towards him and grips his arm.

"It's too fast!" she exclaims, eyes screwed shut.

Yuno must resist the urge to roll his eyes, but slows the pace anyway, deciding to throw a bone to the drunk royal. It wouldn't be good for anyone if she wound up vomiting into the wind swirling beneath them, anyway.

As they slow down, she opens her eyes, her hand still maintaining its vice grip on his upper arm.

"Thanks," she says quietly, not looking at him. He can only imagine the hit to her ego at having to hitch a ride with him, and cling to him for balance. He admittedly finds it very amusing.

"Mm," he replies curtly. "Where's your hideout?"

She removes her hand from his arm, looking both embarrassed and deep in thought.

After a long stretch of silence, he bites back a sigh.

"You don't know, do you?" he vocalizes what she refuses to say.

He expects her to snip at him defensively, but instead she presses a hand to her forehead, and slumps down into a squat.

"This is a mess," she slurs into her palm, and even Yuno must admit, it's a sight to behold, considering the level of poise she typically conducted herself with. "I'm never drinking again."

"That might be a good idea."

"Oh shut up," she murmurs, moving her hand so that she can use one orchid eye to leer up at him.

The two share wordless eye contact, the second awkward staring contest of the night.

"I'll take you to the Silva residence then."

"No!" she exclaims, sheer horror on her face, and it's the most sober she's sounded all night.

The illusion of sobriety quickly disintegrates as she presses both hands to her face.

"I can't let my siblings see me like this," comes her muffled groan.

It is difficult to make Yuno feel anything other than bored, unimpressed, or competitive, but he finally feels a twinge of irritation begin to rise.

"Then where would you like to go?" he asks flatly.

"I…"

They've been standing in an empty field, carried on his wind for too long now, so he decides for her.

"I'll take you to the Golden Dawn Headquarters."

Again, he watches her stiffen and attempt to come up with some reason that it's a bad idea.

"You can wait in my room until Mimosa comes back, and then you can spend the night with her."

She removes her hands from her face, now hugging her knees, dazed orchid eyes meeting his cool ambers, and she gives him an almost bashful nod.

"Thanks," she peeps out.

With a curt nod, he sets course for Golden Dawn HQ.

The ride is completely silent, save for the whirring of the winds beneath them. It's a peaceful night out, and he enjoys quiet night rides under the stars like this.

After perhaps twenty minutes, he arrives at his window, and it's so quiet that he nearly forgets he has a passenger. When he remembers that he in fact does have someone with him, he turns around to find Noelle fast asleep and curled up on his wind floor. Looking at her now, it was impossible to know just how drunk she was, as she is the picture of elegance, moonlight playing on her angelic features, the light pink glow on her face serving as more of a compliment to her looks rather than a dead giveaway of her intoxicated state.

Yuno sighs as he opens the window and bends down to scoop her light, small form into his arms. As he steps into his room, she stirs a bit to get comfortable and nuzzles her head into his chest, and he waves off the action, chalking it up to her drunken, passed out state.

Upon stepping to the ground, he gingerly lays her body down on his pristinely made bed, and turns to close the window. When he turns to look at the bed, Noelle has already made herself comfortable, the side of her face buried in his pillow, clutching half of his blanket over herself, half of it still pinned under her body.

He shakes his head and takes his sleep clothes out of his closet, making his way to the common bathrooms to change.

On his return, he folds up his robe and places it on the floor, resting his head on it, sleep coming quickly — until a light snore begins to fill the space. He sits up to glance at Noelle's sleeping form — still managing to look royal and graceful despite the offending sound.

Lying back down on his robe-turned-pillow, he stares at the ceiling, thinking about what an odd situation he was in. The noisy royal water mage Asta was always with was now fast asleep in his bed.

' _Best not let anyone see us in the morning.'_

He resolves to wake up early and find Mimosa to pass Noelle off before anyone can see the situation and completely misconstrue it.

Sound plan in mind, he drifts off to sleep…

* * *

… only to be woken not too long after to the feeling of something prodding his cheek.

"Yuno," he hears, through the fog of his grogginess. " _Yuno."_

He blinks his eyes open into Noelle's violets that are far too close, and immediately pushes his head back into his robe-turned-pillow to create some distance between them as he tries to understand what exactly is happening.

"Yes, Noelle?" he whispers, trying to contain his annoyance. The sun hasn't yet risen, so he knows that he's gotten probably all of an hour of sleep thus far.

She continues to stare at him, moving her face just a little further away. But on closer observation, he notes the glazed over look in her eyes.

' _Is she sleepwalking?'_

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" she queries, words slurred.

He withholds a sigh.

"Someone was sleeping in my bed," he says flatly.

She gasps, shooting him a look of judgement.

"Who? You probably shouldn't be having weird sleepovers. People could get the wrong idea."

"Yes. You're completely right," he says, well aware of the irony.

"Don't think you can get away with everything just because you're a handsome, powerful show-offy member of the Golden Dawn," she says without hesitation in a scolding tone.

He quirks an eyebrow at the hidden compliment, but brushes it off.

"Did you need something?" he asks through a yawn.

"No."

She sits comfortably into her squat, arms crossed over her knees — perhaps the second time he's seen her in that un-royal position today.

"Then go back to sleep, please," he says, hoping it's the end of the conversation.

"Where?"

"There," he says, pointing to his bed, still mussed from when she had occupied it.

" _YOUR BED_ -?!" she exclaims and he sits up at the speed of light to clap a hand over her mouth.

"Quiet," he whispers, tone thick with warning. She blinks up at him and he slowly removes his hand.

"I can't sleep in your bed," she whispers harshly, shaking her head. "What would Asta think?"

It's an odd thing to bring up, but he obliges the question anyway.

"He'd think that he owes me for treating his drunk squadmate so nicely."

Noelle shakes her head, eyes wide.

"No, he'd get the wrong idea completely," she says, cheeks pinkening.

He quirks an eyebrow again at her panic.

"He's not smart enough to come to those kinds of conclusions," Yuno says in an attempt to reassure her.

Though, now that Asta was involved in the conversation, he finds himself curious and invested. Was she seeing Asta? To his knowledge, Asta was most definitely not in a relationship with anyone, having proposed to Sister Lily per usual, as recently as a week ago. Plus, he's certain Asta would have told him. 

"Why does it matter what he thinks anyway?" Yuno asks cautiously. 

Her face pinkens considerably, eyes widening, and that alone, in addition to the behavior he had observed between the two, makes her one sided affections clear.

"You like Asta."

Her mouth hangs open, brow knit, eyes wide, and she is about to retort —

— until she vomits all over his abdomen.

He stares at the wall ahead, holding his breath as she retches onto him, silently swearing never to offer to do nice things for anyone ever again.

* * *

After a quick clean up — consisting of him transporting the vomit on his shirt out of his window using his wind — he is left with a half conscious drunken Noelle, profusely apologizing through murmurs.

"I'm sorry Yuno, I'm so sorry. Please don't tell Asta please," she murmurs over and over again, as he helps her to her feet.

"We need to get you cleaned up," he says with a grimace, standing and feeling the remnants of the vomit seep through his shirt.

"Oh no, I can fix it!" she says, and before he can say or do anything, she blasts what was supposed to be a weak shot of water over the vomit stain on his shirt — though it feels more like a light punch, given her incredible amount of mana.

"Dear God I hope Mimosa's here," he mumbles to himself as he plucks his robe from the floor and unrolls it.

He throws the robe over her, tucking the hood over her head, shooting her a warning glare before she can cause any further commotion.

"You're going to stay quiet and follow me."

She blinks her glassy violets at him, nodding quietly, the robe like a large blanket draping over her petite frame.

He puts an arm around her, ensuring her entire body is covered, and leads her to the private bathroom for use only by senior squad members.

To his relief, it is empty when he enters, and Noelle is already stripping his robe off when he turns to look at her.

He walks over to the sink and turns the tap on and waves her over to him.

"Come wash your face and rinse out your mouth."

He gives her body a quick once over, noting that she fortunately hadn't tainted any of her own clothing with vomit — but he wonders if she might now, as she grasps the sink with both hands, hanging her head.

"Noelle," he says her name softly, rubbing circles on her upper back instinctively, and it's all almost sweet until he says, "If you're gonna get sick again, you should do it in the toilet so you don't make a mess."

"I'm fine," she says in a tone so somber and serious that he wonders if she's actually now sober.

"Hey," he says, placing a hand on her chin to lift her face up, and she certainly looks worse for wear. "Can you wash your face?" 

"Of _course_ I can," she says, eyes narrowed at him as he drops his hand. "I'm a royal you know."

"You mean people don't wash your face for you?" he inquires sarcastically as he hands her a bar of soap, wondering how her ability to wash her own face and her royalty are at all connected.

Apparently ignoring him, she splashes her face with water, sloppily lathering the soap in her hands before rubbing it into her face in small, calculated circles. He finds himself amused at the fact that her motor skills had returned only when it came to something likely related to a nightly beauty regimen.

As she rinses her face, he removes his shirt, and quickly rubs soap over the area on his abs that is still warm with traces of her vomit. Before he can reach out to the sink to rinse himself, Noelle presses her hand to his abs, conjuring a disk of spinning water against his skin. He is taken aback by the bold and random assistance, raising his head to look at her, her orchid eyes flicking back up to his briefly.

"It's faster this way," she says casually, halting the spell once the suds disappear.

He is both exhausted and at a loss for words, now under the impression that she has roused from her sleepwalking.

"Don't tell Asta," she then slurs as she stares at the ground blushing.

' _Definitely still sleepwalking.'_

Again he throws his robe over her, tucking the hood over her head once more as he pushes her along down the hallway and back to his room without anyone noticing.

He breathes a sigh of relief, pushing a light breeze to his bare abdomen to dry it, and Noelle shrugs off his robe, then attempts to remove her Black Bulls robe afterwards, of course getting tangled in it.

At this point he is resigned to his role as caretaker and steps over to help her out of it. Once the deed has been done, she looks up at him and whispers a quick thanks, opening her mouth to say something else, when he interrupts with:

"Don't tell Asta. Got it."

She jabs a finger into his bare chest and gives him a wink.

"Smart," she says, and he is just as confused as ever.

Then she walks over to his bed, kicks off her shoes, lays down like it's her own bed, and falls fast asleep before he can even suggest they go see if Mimosa had arrived.

Yuno remains standing in stunned silence, wondering if he's dreaming.

When he blinks enough and surmises that this is unfortunately reality, he folds his robe back into a makeshift pillow and lays down on the floor once more. As exhaustion takes over, he can't help but ponder on how on earth the short and raucous Asta had somehow gotten a beautiful, powerful — if insufferable and noisy — royal to fall for him.

* * *

It is a few hours later when he grunts awake, feeling slightly winded, eyes popping open at the feeling of sudden pressure sinking into his stomach. He blinks the sleep out of his eyes, looking down to see a foot pressed to his abdomen, following it up to see Noelle, sitting at the edge of his bed.

She looks at her foot, then at him, then sharply draws her foot back, eyes all but bulging out of her head.

He knows exactly what is about to take place, and he is not at all fast enough to run and stop her impending shriek of:

" _WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tricked myself into shipping these two while writing this fic. Their canon dynamic is fun and cute (though scarcely highlighted), and they look really good (hot!) together. While I'm pretty sure it won't be canon, one can dream — or, the next best thing: write fanfic.
> 
> So, this fic is shaping up to be somewhere between 7 to 10 chapters. Haven't decided yet. Things will get steamy in a couple of chapters and then they stay steamy, so please do stick around if you're into that.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Please drop me a line on your way out and let me know what you think so I know I'm not writing into a void :)


	2. A Battle for Insurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noelle tries to get Yuno to keep his mouth shut about the events of the night prior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to all who took the time to review and comment! I'm ecstatic to know that there are actually a few of us aboard this rare (and sexy) ship. As a quick note, this story will be primarily from Yuno's POV, but with just a couple of chapters from Noelle's (including this one) throughout.

* * *

**_INFLECTION POINT_ **

**_2\. A Battle for Insurance_ **

* * *

  
The dull throbbing in her head pulls her slowly into consciousness as she blinks her eyes open. Almost immediately she registers the pure fatigue felt all throughout her body, heavy like a blanket of rocks holding her in place. She lets out the faintest groan at the feeling, subsequently registering the dryness in her mouth, like she hasn't drunk a single drop of liquid for perhaps a week.

Slowly, she sits up on her elbow and turns over to look out the window through bleary eyes, and it is still dark, as dawn has just barely begun to break.

Rising further to sit up relatively straight, she conjures water directly into her mouth—something she typically refrained from doing, seeing it as unsightly and unbefitting of a royal, but the relentless pounding in her brain and her sandpaper tongue were enough to warrant an exception.

It is only after hydrating that Noelle takes in her surroundings and recognizes that she is not in her own room.

' _Did I stay with Mimosa…?'_ she ponders as she looks around, seeing a desk across the room and closet door that seemed similar to Mimosa's in style. However, the room in its entirety was mostly barren, save for a few books stacked on the desk. Additionally, it lacked that constant floral scent that Mimosa typically wore, which was also a constant fixture within her room.

It then occurs to her that she barely remembers anything from last night, much less how she got to this unfamiliar place, but she is almost too tired to panic about it.

With a sigh, she throws her legs over the bed to stand and explore her surroundings—but instead steps on what feels like flesh, a small, deep, groan emitting from whatever, or whoever, she just stepped on.

A chill jolts her spine, her skin prickling fearfully as she scoots further up to the edge of the bed and looks down to meet the unexpected sight of a half naked Yuno, clad in pajama pants, peering at her with groggy amber eyes.

Her eyes widen and his expression begins to mirror hers, and he flinches almost as if he's scrambling to sit up, before she shrieks:

" _WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"_

She doesn't get another shriek out because Yuno is fast on his feet, and sitting on the bed next to her, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"Please stop that," the stoic wind mage says calmly, though his eyes are filled with something that is not quite rage, but perhaps extreme irritation.

They look at each other for a moment, his eyes boring into hers, as if willing her to calm down by the intensity of his gaze. In the moments that pass, her panic begins to dissipate, and she takes in his haggard disposition, the darkened circles under his eyes standing out against his ivory complexion, his raven hair even more tousled than usual. She also finds herself passively observing that he is far more built than his Golden Dawn uniform and seemingly lanky stature let on, his torso lean and firm, muscles fairly prominent. Then, it is after this once over that she wonders why she hadn't already just blasted his hand off of her face.

Her anxiety builds back up just a little bit when she starts to wonder why he, too, was worse for wear. Slowly she begins to do the math—his nakedness, his lack of sleep, the fact that they're definitely in a Golden Dawn room, which is obviously _his_ room, given its blandness…

"I'm going to remove my hand, and we're going to use our indoor voices. Understand?" Yuno finally says, remaining a picture of perfect calm, and she can't help the pang of irritation she feels at being commanded by the half naked windy showoff sitting next to her.

Nevertheless, she nods, brow still furrowed, hoping to communicate her extreme distress to him through at least that.

" _Why_ are you naked?!" she blurts the minute his palm lifts its seal on her lips. "And why am I here, Yuno?"

She stares at his deadpan face as the math continues to add up to less than decent conclusions.

"Why am I here? Wh—what did you do?" she blurts, suddenly feeling fearful and naked—though, she subsequently notes that she still has all of her clothes on, save for her Black Bulls robe.

For the first time, there is a flicker of silent fury across his typically bland expression.

"I hope you're not suggesting that you think something uncouth happened by my hand," he says, voice quiet and low and thick with warning, the coldness in his tone giving rise to goosebumps on her skin. Immediately, she feels a sense of guilt at the mere suggestion.

Yuno would never do anything weird.

' _He barely ever does or says anything in general,'_ she thinks to herself, now genuinely wondering if the man even had the capacity to feel emotions like a normal human being. She retracts the statement both internally, and by the faltering of her defensive expression.

"No, no I'm… no. Of course not," she says, looking down at the sheets as she shakes her head, feeling a little ashamed for the indecent suggestion.

"But… why am I here? And why are you naked?" she asks again, looking back up at him.

The darkness in his expression is once more replaced with an exhausted version of his typical deadpan as he quirks an eyebrow at her.

"You don't remember vomiting on me?"

Her eyes widen like saucers, mouth agape at the suggestion that she would ever do something so untoward.

"No. There is no way—I did _not_ do that," she huffs insistently.

He blinks a few times at her, as though he wishes he were anywhere else but here.

"You don't remember anything, then," he says flatly.

She shakes her head, willing herself to. All she remembers is being at the War Ceremony gathering, having a few tasty drinks that were apparently alcoholic, but tasted just like juice —deceptively so—and then stumbling out into the night to get some fresh air.

Another moment and she remembers turning to find the stoic mage staring at her, in her drunken stupor.

"Let me refresh your memory then," he says, cutting into her train of thoughts. "You were drunk, so I offered to take you home. You didn't know the way back to the Black Bulls hideout, so I offered to take you to the Silva residence. You refused, so I took you here so you could wait for Mimosa and stay with her, but you fell asleep on my bed."

She stares at him, mouth agape at the summary, just a few dregs of it beginning to come back to her memory.

"Then you woke up in the middle of the night, and you…"

He gives pause, and she's not sure if he's struggling to remember something, or if he's working to intentionally omit something.

"... you woke me up and threw up on me and ruined my shirt, hence my shirtlessness."

Noelle blinks and has the urge to deny it again, but a bland, straight shooter like Yuno would never go out of his way to make up such an elaborate lie.

"Okay…" she says uneasily, feeling her face warm in embarrassment while she stares at the floor, unable to meet his gaze, mortified that _he_ , Mr. Judgmental Show Off, of all people had seen her in such a state. She musters the courage to look back at him, to find that same vacant gaze, and it's almost a relief that it's not his usual judgement. "I'm… sorry then."

"It's fine," he says curtly. "Mimosa's two doors down if you turn right. She should be home now."

Noelle is still reeling from the information he had just dropped on her, and can barely register the insult of him trying to kick her out.

"Okay. Thanks," she says.

"Mm."

She sits at the edge of his bed, putting her sandals back on, face growing warm as she slowly begins to acknowledge the situation, feeling self conscious under the weight of the half-naked wind mage's gaze.

She finally rises and gathers her robe in her arms, noting the sky outside has lightened just a bit, avoiding Yuno's gaze as she heads towards the door.

"That's the closet. It's the other one," he says, and she feels her face warm even more as she redirects her stride.

She places a hand on the knob, pausing for a moment.

"I didn't say or do anything weird did I?" she asks, turning to look at him.

Yuno visibly gives pause once more, a glitch in his expression, but it quickly melts back into his usual blankness.

"There was nothing _not_ weird about last night."

She feels her face burn even warmer, and before she can implore that he keep it all to himself, he says:

"I have no reason to share what happened last night with anyone. If anyone asks, I'll say I brought you here and you stayed with Mimosa. Consider your royal reputation safe and vomit free."

' _You should be so lucky to have a royal vomit on you,'_ she thinks more out of habit and grouchiness than actual belief.

Noelle nods and faces the door and turns the knob—but then she gives pause once more, this time not looking over her shoulder.

"Thank you, Yuno," she says quietly, and she escapes before he can respond—though she's certain he would've probably just grunted in response anyway.

With a sigh, she turns to her right, following Yuno's directions. Before she can take a single step, the door that is her destination opens, and she is frozen in place, locking eyes with a groggy Mimosa in a frilly mumu nightgown.

The redhead rubs her eyes, as if to confirm just what she is seeing, and Noelle feels her panic begin to build once more.

"Noelle?" Mimosa calls out in a sleepy rasp, and Noelle feels her stomach drop.

' _Shit.'  
  
_

* * *

Noelle had recounted the story to Mimosa, who was apparently also too hungover and sleepy to interrogate her further.

After a failed attempt at napping in her cousin's room, she borrows her broom and heads back home to the Black Bulls hideout, where she is welcomed with a sheep-produced breakfast banquet, her comrades all looking ruffled from the night before as they ravenously inhale the feast.

She is relieved that everyone else is too hungover to truly interrogate her, or be suspicious of her late return to the hideout, and she recounts the story per Yuno's brief cover up—of course omitting her sleeping in his bed, vomiting on him, stepping on his six pack, and really everything between the time of their arrival to the Golden Dawn headquarters, through to her departure from Mimosa's room.

"How lucky! I expect nothing less from my meal-saving prince," Charmy says dreamily, before taking a bite of a beef skewer.

"I'm sure he was the perfect gentleman, and that the ride over was just _beautiful_ under the stars," the half-dwarf says with a smile on her face, though her eyes are burning holes through Noelle.

"Uh, not really. I actually passed out," she replies quietly, having forgotten about Charmy's fixation with the Golden Dawn's golden boy.

"So he had to carry you at some point?" Charmy's smile widens as her eyes narrow, shooting the nervous royal a hair-raising leer.

"I—I guess so. For a second," she stammers, finding herself sweating next to her tiny comrade, wondering what exactly Charmy's reaction would be were she to discover the truth.

"Well, I'm really glad he was able to!" Asta thankfully cuts in, talking through a mouth full of food. "I wish I would've known you were feeling bad though. I would've offered to take you home myself!"

Noelle blushes, looking down at the table.

"W-well, you seemed a little preoccupied," she says quietly, nose stuck up in the air as she looks away.

"Yeah, that's right. You were drunk and too busy showing off how many pushups you can do for half the night," Magna spits.

"I was only that drunk because _you_ kept pulling rank on me!" Asta pitches back, of course no hint of actual annoyance on his features, that typical goofy smile splayed on his face.

"Anyway, Noelle. Sorry about that. I would've flown you back in Black form if I'd known."

"No one wants to see you go Black drunk!" Magna scoffs.

The two have another back and forth, but Noelle has at this point zoned out, focusing solely on the image of flying through the night sky in Asta's obscenely muscular arms, green and red eyes gazing lovingly down at her.

Then the pleasant image is quickly muddled by the sudden memory of feeling nauseous and holding onto Yuno for dear life as he had zoomed away from the party on his wind transport. She grimaces remembering the image of his back to her, posture impeccable, raven hair flowing in the wind, golden robe swaying under the starry night sky, soothing sound of the gentle winds whirring beneath her as she had fallen fast asleep. And then she remembers just a sliver of consciousness when being picked up by him, her head pressed to his solid chest, feeling oddly safe and comfortable in his gentle hold.

In the background of observing the sudden return of her memory, she hears bits and pieces of Captain Yami barking something about a mandatory training trip to some mountain with another squad.

"... so you punks better show them what we're made of," the captain finishes in his usual gruff way.

"Ooh, so fun! I wonder who I'll get to fight!" she hears Luck exclaim, his hands sparking.

"Do you think they'll have some royal grade-A booze up there? I mean if we're essentially staying at an abandoned vacation home… " Vanessa says, and Noelle has clearly missed something.

"Um—sorry, what's going on?" Noelle pitches in.

"We're training with the Golden Dawn on Mount Virhorn in a couple of weeks!" Asta exclaims excitedly.

"... oh," Noelle says, the memory of Yuno's cool amber gaze over his shoulder right as she passed out flashing across her mind.

"Golden Dawn cuties all the way up in a lux mountain getaway... " Finral sighs to himself.

"And… why the Golden Dawn?" she inquires, uncertain of why exactly her level of discomfort had skyrocketed at the detail.

Yami shrugs.

"I dunno. Julius picked out the pairings at random. I guess it makes the most sense since we're top two," he says with a proud laugh.

Perhaps her hangover is partially to blame, but she feels incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of being stuck on a mountain in close quarters with both Yuno and Asta, and she's not sure why. While she trusted that Yuno wouldn't blab about her embarrassing state, given that he just didn't hold conversations on the regular in general, there is some anxiety gnawing at her that she can't quite place.

"It's going to be a great opportunity for all of us to bond and solidify our friendships," she hears Gordon murmur in the background as her thoughts begin to spin out.

And just then, her panic bubbles up once more as she begins to understand and remember her source of discomfort, the images slowly fading into view.

"No..." Noelle whispers to herself, suddenly feeling petrified as the chatter continues all around her.

' _I can't sleep in your bed. What would Asta think?'_

"No no no…"

' _He'd think he owes me for treating his squadmate so nicely… why does it matter what he thinks anyway?'_

"Nononono _no no no_ …"

' _You like Asta.'_

Noelle screams bloody murder, the vivid image of Yuno's horrified expression as she retches onto him coming to the forefront of her memory, the echoes of _'Don't tell Asta'_ reverberating through her mind.

The whole room is suddenly silent and turns to her.

"I didn't know you felt that way about the Golden Dawn," Yami says after a few beats of silence, cocking an eyebrow. "Any particular reason why? I mean, I know there was the whole evil elf thing, but we gotta let bygones be bygones at some point."

"Oh, no! I just—I thought I felt a spider on me," she says as calmly as possible though her heart is pounding in her ears and she's certain her face has turned pink.

"Where?!" Asta immediately exclaims, drawing the Demon Dweller out and giving her a once over in search of the imaginary pest.

Her lie is apparently sufficient, as the chatter bubbles back up, and she finds that she is too stressed to be embarrassed by Asta's scrutiny—too stressed to yell at him for being stupid enough to think of using the Demon Dweller to attack a spider that might have been on her person—because someone now knew her secret. And not just anyone. A someone _very_ close to the object of her affections.

… _or_ , if she played her cards right, someone _thought_ they knew something that she didn't want them to know, and she was going to convince that someone that they knew nothing—that someone being Yuno.

The hangover logic makes her brain hurt.

"Um. You know—I think I forgot something at Mimosa's," she says, rising and plucking her broom from the wall. "I'm gonna go."

"See ya," Captain Yami waves her off without even looking as she runs out the front door, determined to squash Yuno's completely correct assumptions.  
  


* * *

  
The ride over to the Golden Dawn headquarters is rough. Noelle was already a terrible rider to begin with, and now with her frantic, panicked thoughts likely affecting her mana, the broom almost refuses to be controlled by her—and the hangover doesn't help.

As she zigs and zags towards her destination, she begins to form a plan to get Yuno to admit what he had correctly suggested. When she thinks about it, she is unsure why he had even suppressed that particular detail. In any case, his reasoning didn't matter. What mattered was that she needed to successfully convince him that he was completely way off base and there had been some sort of misunderstanding. Of course she'd "run into him" under the guise of visiting Mimosa—which she did with some frequency anyway.

Finally reaching to a grinding halt on the Golden Dawn courtyard, she slows her broom by digging her heels into the grass, and it's like divine intervention because Yuno is right there, sitting by the fountain, eyes closed and… meditating?

' _Easy prey,'_ she thinks to herself as she props her broom up on a nearby column.

She strides over to him, for some reason nervous, and before she can even open her mouth to speak, he says:

"What do you want, Noelle?"

The small blonde sprite pops out from his hood to throw her a glare, as he peeps one amber eye open and she freezes in her place, already thrown. He must have felt her mana.

She remains silent for a moment, suddenly feeling flustered under his cool gaze, because he knew _way_ too much.

"Got all the way over here with your broom smoothly, I see," he says, that monotone sarcasm dripping from his voice as he sizes her up, and she is suddenly self conscious about how ruffled her clothing and hair must be.

"Well, yes for your information. The wind is just very strong today," she retorts, and they both know it's completely untrue, but he does her the kindness of saying nothing at all.

"Um, no it's not," the wind spirit herself, of course, pipes up.

Yuno continues to look at Noelle in silence, energy alone communicating, " _Well?_ " without him—or Bell—having to say anything at all.

"I was—I was going to see Mimosa, but I just thought I'd stop by and thank you again."

He looks unconvinced.

"Yeah _right_. You just wanted to see Yuno—"

"Bell," he says sternly, not even turning to look at the little wind spirit. With a huff, she disappears, making Noelle feel only marginally better.

"I just wanted to know what exactly happened last night," she half admits, easing her way to the crux of the matter.

But he is too smart, not at all like his happy-go-lucky and dense foster brother, and remains unconvinced.

"I told you everything that happened," Yuno says in matter of factly way, and she feels herself growing more annoyed than intimidated by the weight of his relentless, cool gaze. "I did leave out the part about the bathroom run, as that didn't seem relevant."

Again she stiffens, face warming considerably because it is like he has zapped her with lightning and jogged her memory. Images of her washing her face and subsequently giving his abs a gentle wash and massage with her magic come to mind.

She wills herself to snap out of her embarrassed stupor, and decides to not take the bait, now irritated with his coldness and nonchalance.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you left out something else," she grouses, gathering her bearings and willing herself to calm down.

"Nope," he says curtly without batting an eyelash, and in a way that is so flat that it's like he must be telling the truth, and she finds it mind boggling that this was the same person that had kindly—if begrudgingly—tended to her the entire night prior.

After another few silent moments, Yuno stands, and again she panics at his attempt to slip away.

"You—you suggested something that was—that was totally inappropriate," Noelle stammers, not at all coming off in the cool, confident and demanding way she had intended.

Yuno looks down at her, and it's a staring contest again—a battle of wills, and she then just barely registers the wind that's beginning to encircle them, her pigtails lightly picking up on the wind.

"And what was that?" he queries, and she frowns, wondering what exactly was about to happen, and why he was even playing dumb. There was now a shift in his gaze that had moved past the apathy, a spark of challenge evident in his cool ambers, and she finds her body responding in kind. It's akin to the energy she felt prior to battle, and now it was manifesting itself in the desire to wear him down and do away with that cocky expression of his.

"You—you said… you suggested that I…" and she can't get the words out for various reasons. She's getting riled up, she's hungover, and though embarrassment is no longer the overarching feeling, the words themselves are all too embarrassing to speak aloud.

Yuno waits patiently, taking a step closer to her, and she feels herself tense further.

The wind picks up around them even more as she glowers at his calm and collected and cocky face.

"If you're going to take up my training time with this, you might as well make yourself useful and spar with me," he says.

Noelle withholds the urge to roll her eyes and is about to comment on how ridiculous he's being—but in a blink she is suddenly several paces back behind a strong spiral of wind. She crosses her arms to cover her face, seeing his figure beyond the winds as she solidifies her stance so as not to be toppled over.

With a growl she breaks the stream of force, conjuring a spiral of water to combat his wind, and the two elements are pushing against one another. Her anger and annoyance overpower her hangover, and she increases the water so that she can begin to inch back towards him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Noelle exclaims over the howl of the wind and the churn of her own water spiral.

"I'm not going to entertain this nonsense if I can't find any value in it," Yuno replies, effortlessly loud and firm over the sound of their combating magic.

Already she can feel members of the Golden Dawn's eyes on them, and she has half a mind to implore that he stop this craziness and say she'll gladly leave.

But then her water suddenly flows freely and she realizes he has gone up into the sky, dropping the spiral of wind, and aiming another at her from above—which she easily blocks with her own blast of water.

"YOU WANNA PLAY?!" she shrieks, her irritation and hangover finally getting the best of her, as she stares up at his still apathetic face.

" _Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar_!" she exclaims without another thought, the majestic beast protruding from her wand and swirling gracefully in the wind towards her target.

Yuno sends a large blade of wind to its head, which is only strong enough to slap it, and his eyes widen in a moment of surprise at the ineffectiveness of his own attack. She feels her ego swell as the dragon elegantly swirls into the sky and chomps in her attacker's direction—all which he swiftly evades.

' _Weren't expecting that, were you, you arrogant prick?!'_ she thinks to herself, feeling smug and incredibly pleased, until what she sees on his face is not a troubled scowl, but a slight smirk.

"Not bad," he says, throwing a glance at her, and she feels both stunned and flattered at the acknowledgement, and at being a recipient of one of the wind mage's rare smiles.

And for the one second she has let her guard down, her magic weakens enough for him to blast through her dragon, and she is left irritated with herself for letting a minuscule compliment throw her.

He looks smugly down at her and she bares her teeth.

"Okay, are we done here?! Can we talk now?!" she calls up to him.

"Nope," he says as he turns tail and floats out of the courtyard, towards the outskirts of town.

For some reason this ignites an anger and irritability in her so strong that before she even registers it, she is shrieking, " _Water Creation Magic: Valkyrie Dress!_ "

And just like that she is armored and mobile, zooming out into the sky towards him, fast enough that when he turns around, there is an oh so delicious expression of shock on his face for a brief moment before he swiftly dodges the attack.

Noelle stabs at his figure with her lance with incredible agility, and he continuously evades the attacks, moving backwards to put distance between them. But she is too fast now, and he knows it, his face focused and watching her motions with unwavering interest and concentration.

"I don't want to fight anymore!" she hollers as she swings at him, and he pushes her weapon-laced arm away before she can land a hit, giving him an opening to push a blast of wind against her chest, easily putting ten feet of distance between them.

" _Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blade Shower!_ " Yuno exclaims, and again there is that pleasing look of shock on his face as she gracefully and swiftly evades the barrage of blades, hurtling towards him once more, and he looks as though he is bracing for impact, but she moves past him, getting in close enough to at least thwack him in the head from behind with her lance. But still, the wind mage is too worthy of an adversary, and is too fast, as he spins around, and before she knows it, his hand is pressed to her chest armor, a constant disc of wind spinning against it, eyes boring into hers as the two torpedo down to the ground at a speed that makes it feel like she'll smash into a million pieces on impact.

" _YUNO_!" she screams, eyes wide in fear as she glowers directly into his cool amber eyes, at certain points, his nose brushing hers with how close he is.

Angered by his recklessness, she decides that she would not give him the satisfaction of winning that easily, and grabs the front of his robe, blasting him in the face with water.

In that moment, she grabs the wrist on her chest and swings herself over, now above him and in control of their rapid descent, gripping his wrist and keeping it pressed against his chest to mimic his previous stance.

He smirks up at her as though he's amused by the switch up, and it once again boggles her mind that the only thing that could make this man to smile was the heat of competition.

"You're insane!" she yells into his face, pushing harder into him.

In response, Yuno extends his free arm out and stuns her once more as he hugs her to himself—her face burning despite herself—and it is all for him to gain control and flip them over once more, back to where they started, his palm pressed to her aquatic chest plate as they plummet towards the ground.

Were she not exhausted and hung over, she would have fought harder to turn the tide—but instead she glares up into his lively amber eyes and psychotically flat mug, bracing for impact, trusting that he wouldn't make it so they two would become a puddle of broken limbs.

She is right to do so, as she feels a gentle, pleasant wind at her back just as they're about to hit the earth. They gingerly settle back to the ground, and all is still, save for the sound of their heavy panting. 

As the howling wind slowly disappears, so does her armor, and she stares up into his face, brow knit, amber eyes intensely staring into hers, sweat beading on his forehead. Though he's trying not to show it, she has given him quite the workout, as he pants to catch his breath. And it is only after that smug feeling of giving him a run for his money that she finally feels herself breathing hard, hears her heart banging in her ears, and feels her clothes cling to her with her own sweat.

Even in her exhaustion, she notes that her body had come alive in response to the surprise challenge, and she feels the odd urge to continue to fight the intolerable wind mage. Another moment passes and again she is bewildered at the thought that yesterday, he had been her begrudging caretaker—whose interrogations had severely annoyed her, but her caretaker nonetheless. Today, he was a mischievous mage who apparently had been raring to fight her, with whom she felt an undeniable, palpable friction that she couldn't place.

A few more moments pass, their shared gaze continuing to spark with an unspoken sense of competition and begrudging excitement as their heavy breathing begins to calm.

Finally, Yuno parts his lips to speak, and it's only now she notes that he's _way_ too close.

"So you _do_ like him."

The wind disk separating his hand from her body disappears, so that now it is his bare hand holding her against the grass.

He has shocked her again, mouth hanging open as she continues to gasp for air, and she's too exhausted to do her usual routine of intense denial.

"Enough to panic and come out here and make sure I stay silent about it," he continues.

She wants to rehash the excuse that she had just come through to see Mimosa, but then remembers once again that he is far too smart to buy such lies.

"Let me make this perfectly clear. I don't care. I don't care enough to talk about it, or even think about it."

For some reason this is insulting to her, and she feels her irritation bubble back up, right at the same time she registers his skin on hers, palm calloused and warm and clammy with sweat that is likely mingled with hers, firmly, if gently, pressing into her chest. Her face reddens further with embarrassment or anger or exhaustion or a cocktail of all of it, and she wants to say something back, but what was she supposed to say? However cold his statement was, she had somewhat gotten what she wanted—the reassurance that he wouldn't open his mouth and blab about her feelings to anyone else.

Yet still, it bothered her that he knew, and she wished she could just erase his memory so she could be alone in her longing, without the nagging thought that the object of her affections' childhood friend knew her secret. At this point she would just have to trust him. After all, there was no other alternative that didn't involve physically harming the wind mage and inducing memory loss.

Blindly trusting his complete apathy and lack of desire to extensively converse with others was the best she could do for now.

And so, Noelle nods in understanding, and almost immediately he backs off of her, and she finds herself breathing far easier than before. He turns around and wordlessly conjures wind beneath them as their ride back to the Golden Dawn headquarters.

The sun is setting as they approach, and her exhaustion and hangover make themselves obvious once more, the fatigue worsening with every additional moment spent on her feet. Throughout the quiet ride, she watches the setting sun's amber glow on Yuno's back, his posture impeccable, raven hair flowing in the wind, golden robe swaying lightly, the soothing sound of the gentle winds whirring beneath her finally urging her adrenaline to calm.

When they touch back down to the courtyard, several Golden Dawn members' gazes are immediately set in their direction, looking on curiously, likely wondering how the impromptu battle had concluded.

She stares at the ground, trying to think of what to say. _"Thank you_ ," barely felt appropriate given that he had dragged her into a fight.

When she looks up, she sees him peering at her over his shoulder, shooting her a gaze so intense and heavy that it halts her train of thought and makes her feel strangely vulnerable and naked—as if with just his eyes, he is saying, _'I know something you don't want me to know. I have dirt on you.'_

Noelle purses her lips, brow furrowing, face warming, about to snap and ask what that look is for, but before she can get a word out, he faces forward and walks away, leaving her even more speechless and frustrated than when she had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing else to report here, other than the fact that this story has grown to about 12 chapters. I hate myself :)
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think! Kudos are cool and very much appreciated, and feedback/comments are even better as they fuel my desire to update faster, and make me feel a little less weird about spending this many hours of my life trying to strategize how to make fictional characters kiss :D


	3. Drunk (A Reprise)

* * *

**_INFLECTION POINT_ **

**_3\. Drunk (A Reprise)  
_ ** ****

* * *

"What the hell?! This place is crazy! There's no one living here during the year eh?" Yuno hears the fire mage with the oddly shaped shades exclaim as he touches his wind transport down to the ground, a few of his squadmates in tow. Already he sees a cluster of Black Bulls gathered around the entrance of the palatial lodge.

"Don't get any ideas about coming up here on your own on your downtime," he hears Captain Yami grumble. "The faeries will curse you," he chortles, cigarette half hanging out of his mouth.

The gruff captain was alluding to Mount Virhorn's sacred forest grove, which was apparently inhabited by faeries centuries ago. To this day, the grove and the forest temple in the woods nearby remain places of worship to the townspeople further down the mountain.

Of course, the Clover Kingdom's royals had tainted the sanctity of the region to some degree when, in an act of sacrilege, an earlier descendent of the Kiras constructed what was supposed to be a getaway mountain lodge. The plush lodge was eventually abandoned as it was built a little too closely to the sacred woods for the vacationing royals' tastes, as they feared essentially what Captain Yami had just jested about. Another royal lodge was built closer to the town further down the mountain, yet still secluded enough to remain unbothered by townsfolk. The abandoned palatial vacation home was soon after repurposed for Magic Knight trainings in later years, given its location in a strong mana zone, and that the space would only be occupied temporarily—thus hopefully avoiding the wrath of any vengeful sprites.

And here Yuno was, about to share this grandiose, sacrilegious space with the rough-around-the-edges Black Bulls. The stoic wind mage found the change of scenery welcome, and was always happy to take any opportunity to enhance his skillset. The next couple of days would prove to be interesting, as the squads would be training at high altitude, powered even further by the overflowing mana. There was also the possibility of fighting Asta and showing him up in front of his entire squad, and that was always a plus.

"Bout time, Vangeance!" Captain Yami barks teasingly as Klaus' steel carriage touches to the ground. "Can't believe we made it here before you and your shiny squad."

"Me either," Captain Vangeance says with a smile, lifting his hand to show the keys.

The door finally open, the chatter continues on as the squads file into the lodge. Upon entering, there are many an 'ooh' and 'aah' at the massive foyer alone, a giant, nearly empty space with high ceilings and a towering staircase at the opposite end of the room. The interior design and the grandiosity of the structure were at odds with each other, as nearly every surface was a warm wooden brown in an attempt to give the appearance of a regular mountain cabin, while the space and furnishings were as over the top as a Kira might mandate.

"This place is probably bigger than all of Hage," he hears Asta say, his rival suddenly standing next to him out of nowhere.

"Mm. What a waste," Yuno murmurs judgmentally, looking around to take in the space.

To the right, there was a room with french doors that opened into what was presumably some library-study situation of sorts. He could see the warm glow of a fire crackling and smell it from where he stood.

Looking ahead, the top of the towering stairs split out in two directions, the second floor lined with railings, several doors lining the walls, which he assumed were their rooms.

To the left was what appeared to be a common area, which was surprisingly cozy, a large sectional couch lining the corner of the wall, the ceiling pitching downwards at an angle, lending itself to the coziness of that particular area. Just ahead of the common space was a bar and a round table, and as one stepped further in that direction, a hallway lined purely with glass, giving a breathtaking view of the mountain range. The transparent hallway led to the dining hall and a gargantuan window leading out to a deck, with what Yuno imagined was an equally impressive view.

"Well anyway. I'm gonna go and figure out where the toilets are. Vangeance, you've got the room assignments, no?" Captain Yami says, taking a drag out the cigarette tucked in the corner of his mouth.

His own captain nods, waving two scrolls in the gruff captain's direction, before clearing his throat.

"Senior squad members will have their own rooms, and junior squad members will share, two to a room. Now, there's quarters A and B, and it's been mandated that the squads intermix, so we won't be dividing up per quarter. Upstairs you'll find a hallway that leads to the B quarters, where…."

Yuno's attention wavers only due to the unmistakable sensation of being scrutinized. His eyes dart over to the source of the tense energy, to have them land on the one and only Noelle Silva, whose magenta eyes immediately dart back to the captain upon being caught.

He watches her intently, watching her shift uncomfortably under his gaze, wondering what was wrong with her, or if she perhaps still had beef about their little match that was, at this point, two weeks ago.

A few blinks in her direction, and Yuno turns to look back at his captain, who is now reading off the names and locations. He of course winds up in the same block as Asta, and for whatever reason passively makes note that Noelle is within the same quarters, in the opposite block.

Once the list is read through, he feels a firm bump on his right arm and looks down to find Asta nudging him with his elbow.

"Looking forward to kicking your ass on the field," he says playfully.

Yuno cracks a slight smile.

"Not a chance," he says and the two share that same competitive gaze that had so marked their friendship since the day Yuno had decided to be brave.

Asta goes on talking about his hope that there's a gym on the premises, and maybe a place where they could spar sans-magic, but Yuno at this point is only paying half attention, noticing Noelle—Mimosa by her side—striding up the stairs.

* * *

"Such a beautiful view, isn't Yuno? So romantic," Bell sighs, perched atop the fur of his hood.

"Mm," he replies passively, noting that in addition to the star-speckled night sky, the deck he was sitting atop also gave a view of the hot springs that Captain Yami had unsurprisingly found his way to.

As it was orientation day, the squads had been given free reign to enjoy the quarters before the hard work began the next day. All around him, from inside the lodge, and beneath the deck are the thrums of life and people talking and bonding and enjoying themselves. While he typically would have joined his comrades, he had set out to remain focused on training for the remainder of the weekend and wanted to do away with any distractions.

Human interaction would eventually be unavoidable, however, as he would have to pass the dining hall and that bar-common room area before making it safely back into his room.

Determined to sleep early, he leaves the comfort of sweet solitude as he re-enters the building, noise and raucous, drunken yelling already filling his ears.

As he approaches the common room he hears the incredibly loud fire mage and Asta all but barking at each other.

"... No thank you!" is Asta's curt and sing songy reply to whatever the fire mage had just proposed.

"As your senior, I say you gotta do it."

"Thanks, but, I think maybe Vanessa might be better for a challenge like that. If you wanna have a pushup or sit up contest, then we can talk!"

"Hah! You're just scared you're not gonna be able to outdrink me."

"Well, we're training tomorrow and I want my body to be in tip top shape!" comes Asta's optimistic reply, ever the expert at kindly deflecting unpleasant topics.

It is like a reflex to Yuno to escalate things where Asta was concerned, because his mouth runs off on its own as he enters the Black Bulls-dominated space.

"He's just opting out because he can't hold his liquor," Yuno remarks, and the eyes of most of the Black Bulls are on him now—and he can already feel the intrusive gaze of that food obsessed cotton mage heavy on him.

"What did you say?" Asta's tone suddenly changes to one of challenge, mouth upturned in a smirk, brow knit, green eyes mirthful and excited.

"You can't. Plus you're right, it'll probably make your weak, manaless self even weaker," Yuno sneers.

Asta stabs his pointing finger in Yuno's direction.

"Hah! You're one to talk! I bet  _ you _ can't even hold your liquor. Didn't see you drink a drop at the post-ceremony gathering!"

"Oh, I can. I just didn't feel like drinking," Yuno half-lies with a shrug. The most he had ever had was that one stein of beer that night, which was hardly enough to gauge one's actual tolerance.

"I bet I could outdrink you any day!" Asta exclaims.

He can feel the Black Bulls' gaze shifting between the two at the back and forth.

"Hah," Yuno says, eyes narrowing, cocky smile spreading on his lips. "I'd like to see you try."

And before he knows it, he is sat down at the round table by the bar across from Asta, one tall and wide bottle of something brown and clear, two shot glasses on the table, surrounded by the Black Bulls all watching intently, in addition to a few peripheral Golden Dawn members who are probably surprised to see the powerful, stoic and quiet Yuno be dragged into such childish games.

"I'll be sure to have plenty of yummy food for your drunchies ready," the cotton mage says dreamily with a light touch to his arm.

"I can take care of Yuno just fine!" Bell growls from out of nowhere, the two clashing per usual, but it is all background chatter as he and Asta leer at each other.

"Alright!" the fire mage, whose name he has now learned is Magna, exclaims, uncapping the bottle.

He pours the liquid into the shot glasses, and without hesitation the two competitors and childhood friends scoop them up and toss them back.

The liquid stings Yuno's tongue, hot as it burns a trail of fire down his throat, the lingering, bitter taste coating the inside of his mouth, and he bites back the urge to cough and sputter at the disgusting taste and exclaim  _ 'Why do people drink this?!' _

But more importantly, besides his disgust at the taste, he feels no change.

Another glass is poured, and the entire room is silent as he and Asta knock back another.

Still nothing—though this time, Asta gives a slight cough, his face screwed in obvious dissatisfaction.

"Tapping out already?" Yuno taunts, with a smirk.

"Hah, no way! This stuff is way less bitter than moguro juice. Next glass, Magna!" the star Black Bull demands, slamming the shot glass on the table.

It is on his fourth shot that he begins to feel warm under his robe and uniform, his senses beginning to dull. Yet still, he is in full control, steady as a rock, while Asta begins to visibly sway, a stupidly cocky grin still on his face.

"Thissus nothin'!" Asta slurs scooting the glass closer to Magna.

"Hahah! That's the spirit! The pride of the Black Bulls rests on you tonight Asta!"

' _ The pride of the Black Bulls  _ would _ rest on a drinking contest,' _ Yuno thinks to himself.

"Leave it to me!" Asta bellows as they take their fifth shot—subsequently rapidly blinking and swaying even more.

"You don't look too well there, Asta," Yuno says, putting every effort into enunciating each word, as his tongue has grown heavy in his mouth.

"You wish. I'm perfeckly o-kaaaay!" the non-mage replies, voice shrill, words slurred. The sound rings in Yuno's head and makes it ache just a bit. "More!"

It is at this fifth shot that Yuno begins to feel at least the prickle of worry, as his senses have dulled substantially. He was now refraining from swaying in his chair, his vision growing just a little wobbly, his brain beginning to swish around in his head. But with Asta still cheekily grinning at him from the other side of the table, standing down and stopping here was simply not an option.

"Alright, shot six! Go!" Magna exclaims.

The two knock their glasses back, subsequently slamming them back on the table once empty.

Asta blinks twice at Yuno, his usual goofy smile splayed on his face, again stabbing his pointer finger in his direction, mouth dropping open to probably let out a taunt—but in the next breath, he is passed out on the table, gasps abounding.

"Daaaaamn. Guess the kid can't hold his liquor," Magna says, shaking his head as people begin to chit chat amongst themselves once more, the sound of Asta's heavy snoring beginning to fill the space.

"In fairness, you all just drank a stupid and probably dangerous amount at once," the pink-haired witch says, her own bottle of something in hand as she pats the back of Asta's grey head.

"Well. I guess you win Yu—"

"Another."

The room falls silent once more, and he has no idea what has compelled him to invite another glass of that vile, defense-burning, mana-dulling liquid down his throat.

"It's only a draw if I don't have this last one. When he wakes up tomorrow, it must be crystal clear that he has lost," Yuno says with such seriousness that the people around him are either laughing nervously or visibly uncomfortable.

"Uh... Okay!" Magna shrugs, pouring another glass. "Don't go passing out too then, or I don't know how much of a victory it'll be!"

"I won't," Yuno says with full certainty, turning his head slightly to look up at the fire mage—and when he sees the amused grin that bursts onto his face, Yuno knows that he is definitely showing clear signs of inebriation.

' _ Dammit.' _

Without further ado, Yuno tosses the glass back, the room so silent that one could hear a pin drop. He sets the glass back on the table, definitely feeling even more swishy, his brow knit, a triumphant smirk taking over.

And then the Black Bulls cheer—because they are the Black Bulls after all, always relishing in everyone else's successes and joys per Asta's infectious attitude.

Magna slaps Yuno's back—which admittedly has him discombobulated for a few seconds—laughing all the while.

"Didn't know you had it in ya! Not bad at all," he says. "Come on over to the Black Bulls hideout and I'll take you on next time."

"Hah," Yuno lets out, mostly because it's all he can manage, afraid of how actual words might sound at this point.

Eventually, the crowd disperses, the lightning boy and Magna picking up Asta and dragging him away, and he is eventually left alone at the table—only after being offered a five course meal by the small cotton mage that's always eating. He politely rejects the offer as he's unsure he'll be able to hold anything down.

After a few minutes at the table, when he is finally fully alone, he pushes himself up to his feet—or attempts to. It is only now that he is alerted to how heavy his body feels, and how hot he feels under his robes. Using the table as support, he attempts to stand taller, feeling like his brain is sloshing around in his head.

' _ Can't let anyone see me like this…' _

His need to preserve his dignity far outstrips the effects the bitter juice had on him, and he propels himself forward, cheating just a little bit with a light wind guiding him along.

When he reaches the foot of the stairs, they seem endless, the journey akin to traversing an entire mountain in his current state. He notes that his control of mana had also severely dulled, and he's not sure he could have carried himself on his own transport up the stairs if he tried.

More urgent is the need to disappear from sight, so he instead stumbles towards the room with the french doors for refuge. Peering in through the glass, he confirms that it's empty, the glow of the fireplace even more welcoming. With some struggle he pushes the door open, stumbling forward towards the couch before the fireplace, plopping down onto it with relief.

' _ I hate alcohol.' _

It's his silent mantra as he wills himself into sobriety—though the focus only makes his head ache even worse.

He slumps back into the couch, resolving to hide until he rides out his drunkenness, at least enough to get some mobility back so he could happily pass out in his room.

* * *

"Did they stick you in here because they forgot to assign you a room?"

Yuno's ears pique at the sound as it slowly reels him back into consciousness, and it is the last voice he wants to hear. He peeps an eye open to see Noelle enter the room, closing the door behind her.

"It's a big lodge. There's plenty of rooms and plenty of other people to disturb," he mutters, closing his eyes again as he leans back into the couch, passively wondering how long he had been passed out for.

"Quit your whining. I won't take long."

He peeps his eye open to find her sitting on the complete opposite end of the couch, extending her hands out in front of the fireplace. When his eyes rove back up to her face, she's staring right back at him.

"What?" she queries, already annoyed.

"Water."

The word is out of his mouth before he registers its arrival, and the offense on her face is clear.

"Uh, what do I look like to you?! You know, you can't just go around asking royals to serve you," she huffs, and his head pulses from her shrieking and nagging, which alcohol apparently made doubly worse.

" _ SshhhhhhHHHHH _ ," he hushes her, volume low, hoping she would follow suit.

"I need water," he repeats in a whisper, again, speaking before his brain can catch up.

She scrutinizes him a little more before her vexed expression melts into one of sick amusement.

" _ Ah _ ," Noelle says with a slight laugh, eyes glimmering with vengeful mirth. "You're drunk."

"Nope."

Yuno shakes his head, but instead ends up cartoonishly swinging it loosely side to side, thus nullifying his denial.

He looks back up at her, her eyes glassy, cheeks tinted with the telltale glow of having also consumed a fair amount of alcohol.

"You're one to talk."

"Mimosa and I just split half a bottle of wine, so I'm nowhere near your pathetic condition," she scoffs, and it's true. Though her eyes are glassy, cheeks lightly flushed, she is coherent and not at all the mess he had tended to all those nights ago.

He blinks at her a few more times, before his eyes close of their own volition, his head continuing to pulse.

"You clearly didn't eat enough—or you drank too much too quickly," she nags a little more quietly, just a touch of pity in her voice.

He says nothing in response, mostly because he can't. Had he been able to, he would've spat out a taunt about how she was the last person that should be tutoring him on alcohol consumption.

"Open your mouth," he hears her say, out of nowhere.

He blinks his bleary eyes open once more, if only to shoot her a questioning look at the odd command, and he finds that she has moved just the slightest bit closer, her wand pointed in his direction.

"What are you gonna do with that?"

"Just do it."

In no state to question her, he lets his jaw go slack, mouth hanging open, and not a second later there is a cool and refreshing steady stream of water arching from her wand and down into his mouth.

Confused, he glugs the cold water down, feeling some relief from the heat that the alcohol had invited, and feeling just a bit better—until he realizes that there is something decidedly odd about their stance. He didn't even want to know what would be said if any of his squadmates happened upon Noelle using her wand to shoot a stream of water into his mouth.

"Okeh yats enafhh," he gurgles through the steady stream, continuing to swallow down the water as it comes.

"What was that?"

"Stop the water," he says firmly, briefly turning his head to be able to speak properly, the stream meeting his cheek, before he resumes his previous position and continues to drink.

Instead, the water stream increases in pressure and amount, effectively wetting his robe, and he immediately regrets ever asking the stubborn royal for help.

"I think  _ 'Thank you Noelle'  _ is what you mean to say," she simpers, pure satisfaction written on her face.

He resists the urge to shoot a gust of wind her way for her wickedness, as he is unsure of how his magic would even look in his current state. So, he acquiesces.

"Hank yeh Nelle," he gurgles with narrowed eyes.

Noelle smiles and he is met with one final large splash to the face—which is admittedly refreshing, as irritated as he is.

"And I think this calls us even," she says as she puts her wand away, clearly pleased with herself.

"Being puked on and babysitting a drunk is a bit different than shooting water at someone's face for a couple of seconds," he grouses as he pushes a soft gust of wind against his face to dry it off, feeling her eyes on him as he does so.

Despite his annoyance, he does note that he no longer feels sick—though still every bit as dumb and sloppy prior to hydrating.

"So what did it take to get a stiff like you to this sorry state?" Noelle asks, apparently brushing off his insult with ease.

"Drinking contest with Asta," he replies flatly, slumping back into the corner of the sofa.

"You two are actually  _ so _ stupid."

"He lost."

"You must be so proud."

"I am."

"You did wind up pathetically drunk, though."

A pause.

"I did," he admits, slumping his head back into the couch, closing his eyes. He claws at his robe, attempting to unfasten the buckle that secured it underneath. "And I hate it. I don't understand why people like it—it dulls your mana, makes you talk stupidly, and makes you physically inferior. It's awful."

"What are you trying to do?"

"It's hot and I'm trying to take this off… I can't find the…It's under… it's under this here, I just have to unbuckle it…" he mutters to himself, groping around under his robe.

"Here…" he hears Noelle say.

He opens his eyes to find Noelle next to him, her hands on his robe. She unceremoniously flips up the robe into his face to find the buckle and undoes it, and he feels it loosen around his shoulders.

"How the mighty have fallen," she clucks with a shake of her head, of course rubbing in his embarrassing state before he can even utter a begrudging 'thank you'.

"At least I didn't vomit," he says as he pulls the robe off and unbuttons the top of his uniform.

"The night is still young," she mumbles audibly.

He slumps back into the couch and she takes her place at the opposite end, extending her hands out to the fire once more.

"What are you even doing?"

"I just got in from the deck and I'm warming myself up," she replies, as though her patience is hanging by a thread.

"Can't you just get a fire mage to warm you or something?"

"Last I checked this wasn't  _ your _ room," she snaps, throwing him a glare.

Too drunk and tired to retort, Yuno decides to make peace with the fact of the irksome presence in the room. As the silence persists, he finds himself watching her intently, noting that after a hike up a mountain and a few drinks later, not a hair is out of place. She is the picture of nobility—pretty and put together, and even now he could feel the mana oozing from her presence, strong and powerful.

"Enjoying the view?" she mutters, just a morsel of bashfulness in her tone, and his eyes dart back up to the magenta pink eyes now fixed on his.

The silence now is not necessarily uncomfortable, nor is he visibly grasping for an excuse to explain away his staring. In fact, he's not thinking at all, when he blurts:

"Why do you like Asta?"

His mouth had moved on his own, and he's unsure of where the thought had come from at all. However, now that the question was out in the air and could not be rescinded, he decides to roll with it, expression unshifting as he watches pure horror begin to shade her features.

"WH- _ WHAT _ ?!" Noelle shrieks.

"Agh, too loud… " he winces.

" _ You're  _ too loud! What if someone hears, idiot!" she hisses in a harsh whisper.

" _ Who? _ We're in a closed room and there's no one even here."

She frowns, blushing furiously, turning to look at the fire and apparently genuinely upset and uncomfortable, and he almost feels bad for the intrusive inquiry.

"I thought you didn't care about this kind of thing," she murmurs.

"I can assure you I don't," he says flatly. "I'm just curious enough to inquire why bringing him up prompted you to vomit on me."

She looks at him incredulously once more, the firelight flickering in her eyes, and even in her subdued anger she looks regal.

"A midget peasant with zero mana being pined after by a powerful, gifted and royal mage who's not terrible looking," he breaks the silence with a shrug. "Explain."

She quirks an eyebrow in question, looking a bit startled at the backhanded compliment.

After another stretch of silence, the anger on her face dissipates, and she looks back into the fireplace.

"I was a mess for a long time, as you might have heard," she begins. "I mean, of course you have. Everyone loved to talk about it—how I couldn't control my powers and what an embarrassment of a royal I was. I grew up surrounded by people who were constantly telling me I'd never amount to anything, and who were always guilting me for even existing."

He watches her intently, both nonplussed and intrigued at the display of honesty and humility that she rarely ever exhibited.

"I'm this confident… this powerful, because Asta's courage and optimism made me want to try to be better," she says with a slight smile. "The first time I was ever able to cast a spell of any use was when he was by my side on our first mission."

She pauses again, as though playing back memories through her mind, and he finds himself wondering what that reel consists of.

"He might not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but... he's resilient and relentless, and he… he has what even some of the most powerful mages lack. And, he's always looking out for and uplifting others," she says, and he has to wonder if the last few sentences are a backhanded dig at him.

There is another pause, and she sighs.

"Well anyway. There's your answer," she finishes, still avoiding his gaze.

"Really?" Yuno pipes up, breaking the brief, contemplative silence.

"What do you mean ' _ really' _ ?" she asks defensively, turning to shoot a scowl his way.

"I mean… not that I'm well-versed on the topic, but isn't that just gratitude and admiration?" he says, cocking an eyebrow. Normally he would have judged internally and kept such thoughts to himself, unwilling to expend any time and energy on such trivial matters, but his tongue had a mind of its own tonight. "If that's the criteria, I must be in love with Asta too."

Noelle looks absolutely stupefied at the statement, her cheeks growing pinker by the second—and again the gears are clicking because she must know that there is actually some validity to what he has said.

"Well, if you haven't ever liked someone in that way, you wouldn't understand," she mutters as she looks away.

It's silent again, Yuno nods and looks back at the fire.

"I suppose that's true."

He feels her eyes on him again, the silence persisting, save for the sound of the fire crackling.

"You know," Yuno continues, once again struck and annoyed at his own mouth as the words continue to flow freely, "Joking aside, I understand the feeling. I wanted to become this powerful because of him, too."

Even in his periphery he can see her gaze soften in the slightest.

"You mean you didn't come out of the womb screaming about wanting to be the Wizard King?"

"No, actually," he says with a light shake of his head, a small smile spreading on his lips. "When we were children, I was extremely timid. Becoming the Wizard King was  _ his _ dream first."

The tension present just moments ago dissipates completely, the room finally taking on an atmosphere warm enough to match its cozy appearance.

"It was only when he told me  _ why _ he wanted to become it that something shifted in me… Someone who had everything going against him truly and fully believed in a dream like that. I was… inspired. How could you not be? Then, I became curious and determined to see if I could become worthy of achieving such a thing," he says, uncharacteristic fondness permeating every word despite his cool and even tone. "I've been following that curiosity since... and it's led me here."

"... stuck on a mountain, drunk and immobile?" Noelle teases, gaze soft, though she maintains her steely tone within the light barb.

In response, he lets out a single, airless chuckle, a half smile on his face as he turns to look at her, watching the surprise fade onto her features once more.

"Stuck on a mountain, drunk and immobile," he echoes softly.

Another comforting hush falls over them as they look at one another. He can tell she is still stunned by the warmth in his words in regards to Asta, and Yuno knew that he himself would probably cringe at the memory the next morning, and fully deny ever having uttered such words. And now, looking at the skilled water mage, he realizes it is perhaps the first time they had ever held prolonged eye contact that didn't consist of scowling and intimidation, and it was likely owed to the fact that they were just two incredibly powerful mages sitting by a fire, drunk, exchanging words on a common topic they may never have otherwise. He finds the situation decidedly odd, but not unpleasant—and more importantly, finds himself fascinated at how Noelle's face looks when she's not glaring or bitching.

"Question," she says softly, voice cutting through the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asks. "When I woke up and you were telling me about the night before… why didn't you mention all of the things I said about Asta?"

"Didn't seem like something you would've wanted to share, had you been sober," he says as though the answer is obvious.

"And that's why you pretended not to know anything the next day?" she queries, clearly not expecting his response.

"Well, yeah. And technically you never actually explicitly admitted it, so I was just trying to throw you a bone."

She continues to stare at him, stunned, understanding beginning to shade her features as she nods slowly. She redirects her gaze back to the fireplace, apparently having difficulty processing the fact that Yuno had attempted to do something kind.

"But what was that fight all about?!" she snaps out of nowhere.

He shoots her his typical deadpan—however glassy and glazed over this version of it was.

"That one's pretty straightforward. You were just annoying me at that point—I had probably clocked in all of an hour of sleep thanks to you," he says flatly. "You could've avoided all that if you had just played along."

She is silent again, mouth flopping open and closed as though trying to calculate an appropriate comeback.

" _ Plus _ ," he says, mouth once again acting on its own accord as he reflexively redirects his gaze at the fire, not wishing to see the look on her face in response to what he is about to say.

"... I was curious to experience you myself, in action."

' _ I hate hate hate hate alcohol.' _

Yuno had admittedly been curious about the bratty royal ever since the Royal Knights exam. After hearing stories about the battlefield dancer, with brief glimpses of her in action, such curiosity had only increased—though without the aid of an intoxicant, he would probably have taken such thoughts to the grave.

It is silent as he feels her attempt to grasp for a response, clearly uncertain of what to do with the not so hidden compliment.

"Well, that was  _ far _ from the best time to see me in action," Noelle finally says, trying to sound as snobbish as possible after a good measure of silence. "Trust that things  _ definitely  _ wouldn't have ended the way they did if I hadn't been hungover."

Yuno is relieved at her normal and sassy response, and at the fact that she had chosen to do him a kindness and not probe any further. This drunk, he's unsure what else would've unexpectedly fallen out of his mouth.

"We were both operating on a handicap, so I'd say the odds were pretty even," he insists, finally turning to look back at her, only to find the nervous girl who had been speaking about her crush moments ago long gone, a self-assured woman in her place, darkened magenta eyes confidently fixed on his bleary ambers.

"Sure," she scoffs, the lone word heavy with challenge and sarcasm. "If that's what you need to tell yourself."

The silence lingers, giving way to that air of anticipation, competition and excitement that had greeted them at the end of their impromptu battle, and he finds himself willingly trapped under her gaze.

She parts her lips to speak, eyes narrowed for a moment as if she's sizing him up.

"You know," she begins nonchalantly, face easing back into its regular look of observant judgement. "You're a lot more tolerable when you're drunk."

"Thanks," he replies, more amused than offended by the barb. "Not sure I can say the same for you."

Noelle feigns offense, her lips nearly curling into a slight smile.

"And here I was about to say how surprised I was that you're actually capable of holding a decent conversation."

"Hmm, that's strange coming from someone whose main form of communication is barking orders and insults at people."

Though the words exchanged echoed how they usually spoke to one another, this particular exchange was light and playful and warm, and at that, Yuno is just loose enough to let a rare, small, genuine and gentle smile spread on his face.

However, to his bewilderment, the rare expression of warmth slowly elicits a jarringly opposite reaction from Noelle, her face melting into one of disconcertion and befuddlement, cheeks burning pink, eyes widening, looking as though she might have seen a very attractive ghost, or perhaps someone streaking in the window behind him. Either one.

"... what?" he asks, unsettled by her expression, looking behind him to see if someone was in fact streaking.

When he turns back, he is met with a fistful of water to the face. He quickly blinks the water out of his eyes and sees her wand pointed at him yet again.

"What was that for?!" he glowers, wondering if he had just dreamt the entirety of that pleasant exchange as he wipes his face with the back of his sleeve.

Noelle remains silent as though she is grasping for a reason for the random attack, other than her own impulsiveness and insanity, and he makes a mental note to never smile at the crazy royal ever again.

"Y-You won't tell anyone about the Asta things we talked about tonight, will you?" she stammers after some time, cheeks still flushed.

Of  _ course _ it all came back to that. Randomly so, but he is now unsurprised.

He regards her with annoyance, face flat once more.

"Do that again and I just might."

The taunt earns him another steady stream of water to the face.

"I'll do as I please!" she bellows, sounding like a woman possessed.

She continues to hose him with water, and he springs off of his corner of the couch to grab her wrist, pulling her in, making the water come to a stop.

" _ Why _ am I always alone with you when you're acting like a crazy drunk?" Yuno queries, nearly nose at nose with her as he holds her wrist hostage. "It's not very becoming of a royal."

"And what would  _ you _ know about that?" she seethes, eyes boring into his.

"Just enough to know your barking and knee-jerk usage of mana doesn't fit the bill."

Again they are at their usual level of civility with one another, stuck in yet another showdown and glare-off. But there is something decidedly different about it this time, as there are pangs of warmth welling up from the pit of his stomach, pulsing through him that has him taking in every detail of her face—how the firelight plays on her lightly flushed, fair and flawless skin, the angry scrunch of her fine silver eyebrows, the striking color of her eyes, and how soft and supple her lips look even pursed in annoyance.

"You're getting a little over familiar, aren't you?" she mutters tauntingly after another stretch of silence, pulling him out of his trance, just a tinge of shyness to the cool and annoyed tone in her voice, as though chastising him for his intense and probing gaze.

"You should probably blast me away, then," he dares her, voice low and quiet, and he is close enough to feel the warmth of her breath on his mouth.

Noelle's scowl deepens, and he feels her free hand on his chest through his uniform, already feeling it begin to cool as though she is revving up her mana to oblige his suggestion.

"If you insist."

" _ Do it _ . You won't."

"Don't test me."

The air is thick with that tension again, the room suddenly much hotter, the friction between them sparking out of control in every which way, and he feels even drunker than when she had found him.

And then it happens suddenly, yet almost in slow motion—she has the front of his uniform balled in a fist, hand tugging him the slightest bit forward, and he watches her eyes droop shut, feeling as though some spell is pushing his own eyes closed, some gravitational pull causing the tip of his nose to brush against hers, causing the sensation of her warm breath on his mouth to lure him in closer—

—when they both jump at the sound of the door clicking open.

In a blink, Noelle rips her wrist from his hand, giving him another blast of water to the face for good measure, her face livid and a furious pink as she jumps to her feet.

She doesn't say anything to him as she turns and rounds the couch, eyes glued to the floor, and the door swings open, Captain Yami sauntering in, clad in a pristinely white bathrobe.

"Yo," he says casually to Noelle, and she returns it with a quiet "Hi," before speeding past him and into the foyer.

The captain whistles to himself as he takes a seat at the opposite end of the couch where Noelle had sat just moments ago, and cracks a book open.

Yuno watches, completely dumbstruck, his intoxicated mind struggling to process what had just happened—and trying to surmise if any of it had actually happened at all.

It is after a few beats the rugged captain turns to look at Yuno.

"Why are you wet?" he asks, blinking at the soggy wind mage, then looking back at the doors behind them, somehow concluding Noelle had something to do with it.

Yuno merely stares back, his face falling flat once more, everything from his chest and up soaked.

"You know what? I don't even wanna know," the burly captain sighs with a shake of his head, turning back to his book and taking a drag of his cigarette.

Yuno slumps back into the couch and sighs, resting a hand over his eyes.

"Jeez, you kids really can't hold your liquor," he hears Captain Yami mutter.

* * *

A half hour later, Yuno is still relatively drunk, but mobile enough to drag himself up the stairs.

He passes Asta's room along the way, the door wide open for him to see Magna and the blonde lightning mage cackling as they scrawl all over his sleeping, drooling, rival's face with an inked quill.

"You guys are ridiculous," he hears Noelle's scolding voice just as his eyes fall on her. As though sensing him, she immediately meets his gaze—a subdued glower gracing her features, as well as a look of knowing.

He presses forward and brushes it off, striding to his room, excited to fall into bed and put the night's events behind him. He immediately puts his grimoire in the armoire, lest Bell pop out as he claws off his uniform to strip naked. He then schleps on his pajama pants, and falls into the lone arm chair by the bed.

He nearly drifts off, when not fifteen minutes later he hears a forceful knock on his door.

" _ What _ ?" he groans out in an uncharacteristically whiny way, not even willing his body to get up and check who could possibly be knocking at this hour.

"It's Noelle," comes the muffled, hushed and prickly reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that was a long one.
> 
> Thanks again to all who took the time to review/comment. I appreciate every single one of you, and always look to your feedback as fuel to keep writing! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter as things are starting to heat up ;) You can also check me out on tumblr under "fengreyfront" if you're interested in supporting my writing/broing out beyond this site. Some additional notes:
> 
> — I have never, ever updated a fic this dense and long at such a quick rate before. So, please enjoy the weekly updates while they last, because that's not gonna be a forever thing.
> 
> —For the ones who were surprised that there's fighting—the summary does mention "battles of wind versus water". I meant that quite literally, as you can see ;D
> 
> —Yes, I do think Yuno would completely space on the other Black Bulls' names, even after two years of knowing of them lol. There's also the fact that he doesn't regularly interact with them, too.
> 
> —Lastly, consider this your "steaminess alert". Sexy stuff is gonna pick up more moving forward. Now would be a good time to jump ship (from this fic) if you would like to remain untainted. That said, it's worth it to note that sexual situations in this fic aren't just there for sexiness' sake. It's always used to drive the plot O:)
> 
> That's all for now. See you next time :)


	4. Indecent Ascent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fair amount of steam ahoy. Turn back now if you can't take the heat :P

* * *

_**INFLECTION POINT** _

_**4\. Indecent Ascent** _

* * *

Yuno had had his fill of the noisy royal tonight, so he slumps back into his chair, and closes his eyes, electing to ignore the knock.

"I'm sleeping," he groans at a higher volume.

The knocking only comes louder and faster, and his pure irritation eventually pulls him up and onto his feet. Dragging himself to the door, he opens it just enough to pop his head out, to find Noelle standing there expectantly with her arms crossed, now clad in her dress, sans Black Bulls robe.

"What?" he blinks down at her, not even attempting to mask his annoyance. "Have you come to splash me more?"

Noelle gives pause, momentarily unsettled by his half naked appearance, but she quickly regains her composure, face taking on its typical snooty quality.

"I'm coming in," she declares, and before he can object she pushes the door open and pushes past him.

"I was just about to sleep," he grumbles, closing the door behind her.

When he turns around, he finds her several paces away, leering at him in silence. He sighs, fairly certain he knew the reason for this disturbance.

"If you're here to make sure I don't gossip about your feelings for Asta, I'll say it again: I truly don't care enough to talk about it to—"

" _What_ was _that_?" Noelle all but spits, eyes narrowed.

He blinks at her confusedly, apparently incorrect in his assumption.

"What was _what_?"

"Downstairs!" she exclaims, cheeks beginning to pinken, though she maintains her scowl.

"You mean, you constantly drenching me in water?" he replies flatly with an unenthused cock of an eyebrow.

" _No…_ " she seethes, stammering and apparently trying to grasp at what exactly she should be angry with him for. "When you… when—when Captain Yami came in, and…"

She trails off, but she doesn't even need to complete her sentence, as his brain does so on her behalf. Suddenly, the images and sensations are vivid—the tension in his body, the look in her eyes, her breath on his mouth, feeling himself shifting forward, feeling himself let it happen, and feeling himself _want_ it to happen.

' _Oh.'_

"You tell me," he replies as flatly and coolly as possible in an attempt to skirt around the issue, for some inexplicable reason beginning to grow warm. " _You're_ the one that started hosing me down out of nowhere. I was just trying to stop you."

Noelle looks as if steam is about to blow out of her ears any second now, and as though she's winding up to explode into an unpleasantly loud chewing out. But instead, she blurts:

"You almost _kissed_ me!"

Yuno stiffens, truly at a loss for what to say. He had hoped that she wouldn't have the courage to actually verbalize the obvious. But, within a matter of seconds, he decides that he is more annoyed than embarrassed at the resurfacing of the topic, both because he felt that he shouldn't have had to deal with the consequences of something that hadn't even amounted to anything, _and_ , her framing of the situation was skewed, given that she had been every bit as responsible for the near-liplock.

"Well… the fact is nothing actually happened," he echoes his thoughts with a light shrug, hoping to put the matter to rest with this statement alone.

However, the stretch of silence that follows, in addition to his situationally and alcohol-induced grumpiness and looseness, gives way to the next words out of his mouth.

"And, don't even try to pin this all on me. You _wanted_ me to kiss you."

Noelle's eyes widen, suddenly in much closer proximity, and it's only now that he notices that they had been striding towards each other the entire time.

He stares her down, ever the master of aloofness, watching the gears turn in her head. He wonders what kind of nonsense she would try to spit back at him this time. Of course she would deny it. She'd probably throw in some accusation about how it had been his plan all along, and how _dare_ he ever insinuate she would want to kiss a peasant and _blah blah blah._

"Don't stand there and pretend like you didn't want to," she says quietly.

Turns out, he was completely wrong. He feels himself tense up, noting the deflection, which contained neither a denial or confirmation of his bold and borderline accusatory claim. He finds himself just the least bit impressed that she had proven his assumption about her wrong, and had even forced him to actually think up a response.

While he typically would have immediately scoffed and called such a claim ridiculous, he had a hard time doing so, because she was unfortunately not wrong. For some reason he could not place, he had been physically drawn to her at that moment, which made no sense at all, given the heat and bitterness of their previous interactions. In truth, there had been stirrings of something he hadn't ever felt before, and he was just loose enough to follow his curiosity and explore them, rather than shove them away as he might have any other day.

"It just felt inevitable for a split second," he lets slip, horrified the minute the words leave his mouth, and he must tear away from her gaze briefly to hide the shock at his own unintentional honesty. A sober Yuno would _never_ have admitted such a thing, and he finds himself once again cursing the spell of that vile, disgusting liquid that had rendered him too stupid and careless for his liking.

When he is able to calm himself down and maintain the integrity of his stoic expression, he looks back at Noelle, expecting to find some sick amusement on her face, followed by a rant about how he should know his place and _blah blah blah_. However, she surprises him again when what he finds is curiosity in her searching magenta gaze, brow scrunched in concentration. Perhaps even _she_ was at a loss for words about what to do with all of this uncharacteristic honesty. She parts her lips to speak, closes them as though rethinking her words. After some time, she finally says:

"So why didn't you?"

There is only pure stifling silence as he feels his cool composure begin to crack, eyebrows twitching, eyes widening in the slightest, mostly from his complete and utter confusion at what exactly was taking place. He stares at her longer, wondering if perhaps he had imagined the question. But when she says nothing and instead cocks an eyebrow at him expectantly, he finds himself struggling to grasp for a response.

"I feel like that's fairly obvious," he begins, gathering his bearings, trying his best to infuse his typical brand of sarcastic venom into his words. "Or, do you not remember Captain Yami coming in, and you literally blasting me away? And there's also the fact that you had _just_ been talking about how much you adore Asta—"

"I wouldn't stop you if you tried again."

The statement rolls off of her tongue as easily as any other taunt she might have tossed his way, as she wears him down with the intensity of her gaze.

"... _What_?" is all he can muster, exhaling the word as though she had just uttered something ridiculous, judgement and confusion infusing the lone syllable. However, his tone is not meant to mock or disparage, but is reflective of his genuine feelings. At this point, he could honestly say he had no idea what was happening.

Though the sense of determination in Noelle's expression does not falter, there is slight panic in her eyes—as though she is perhaps trying to grasp for some reason to justify the bold statement without incriminating herself.

"Well… since it already almost happened, I figured I might as well just get it over with so I'm not nervous for when it actually counts with someone special," she says, sticking her nose in the air in the way that she usually does, looking past him. "And there's no point in denying that you have some sort of interest in it."

Yuno stares down at her, his poor, swishy brain struggling to make sense of the situation and its absurdity. She had essentially just admitted that she had, in fact, wanted him to kiss her—in the most roundabout way of course, framed in a way that shielded her from appearing to be rejected, no matter what his response was.

' _She's good_ ,' he finds himself passively and begrudgingly thinking, feeling an even mixture of respect and annoyance.

Noelle's eyes are back on his as she awaits his answer, and he takes his sweet time as he unflinchingly returns her gaze.

Ultimately, the offer boiled down to the fact that she wanted to use him as practice for Asta.

He wonders why _he_ is the lucky winner, so to speak. Just because something had nearly happened between them in the heat of the moment didn't necessarily limit her options to him alone. There was probably no shortage of men that would gladly help her with her predicament.

But then it dawns on Yuno that he had seen her at what was likely a personal worst. Even if this new experience was unpleasant, or if she was "bad", she'd have no qualms about it as there was truly nowhere but up to go with him in terms of his perception of her—and it appeared she didn't really care what he thought of her. Additionally, he had also communicated to her on multiple occasions that he was not one for gossip. Maybe she took some comfort in the fact that he was unlikely to spread the word about a liplock with her, like some lesser men might. _And_ , there was also the fact that the chances of things becoming complicated between them were slim to none, as they rarely ever interacted.

From all angles, it appeared that Noelle viewed him as the perfect experimental partner.

Yuno is admittedly _just_ _marginally_ intrigued. Even so, he balks at the thought, if only for the possibility of eventual blowback—that tomorrow, when she woke up sober, she would regret it and give him hell for it.

"You're drunk," he says with a shake of his head. "I'm not having you come up to me tomorrow and accusing me of taking advantage of you."

Even through her glower, she looks pleased that he hadn't outright rejected the proposal.

"First of all, I'm completely coherent and basically sober. Secondly, I wouldn't do that—and I'm honestly insulted that you think I would. I'm clearly giving you my permission here. _Lastly_ , I never want to talk about it again, afterwards."

The silence hangs in the air, and he's unsure of what to say. He has half a mind to do it just to get her to go away so he can finally rest.

But on the other hand, was it worth it to degrade himself to being someone's _practice_ —much less practice for _Asta_? It's not like she needed it anyway. If ever the two got together, Asta would likely still be completely clueless about such things.

Then again, feeling "used" in this particular realm wasn't a concern of his, as he felt quite detached from such matters. A kiss was the mere pressing of one's lips to another's, after all. He failed to see what was so enticing and exciting about it, and wondered how an action so odd by nature ( _'What's so special about pushing the thing you use to eat and speak against someone else's thing they use to eat and speak?'_ ) was given such significance. This is, at least, what he had thought inwardly for the longest time.

Today, however, he had discovered that his body apparently disagreed with his rationale, because it was barely an hour ago when he had felt _compelled_ —by his _own_ desire—to kiss Noelle. He had partly been acting out of curiosity to see what the fuss was about, and partly for some other reason he could not place.

After a long pause, he feels his head begin to ache and finds that he can no longer think anymore, his brain reaching its rational capacity in its current state. Now, all he wants is to be left alone to recover in peace, and obliging the odd request was the most efficient path forward. At least it was also an opportunity to sate his curiosity and prove to himself just how ridiculous all the hype around this kissing business was.

' _Screw it.'_

"Tell me that you want it."

Noelle visibly tenses, eyes growing just the slightest bit wider, clearly not expecting the bold demand.

"Tell me that you want it, and I'll do it," he says firmly, maintaining his flat composure.

He expects a tirade of how she was a royal and that she'd never do anything so beneath her, and he should be so lucky to be offered such an opportunity and _blah blah blah_. But, once again, she shocks him when she shifts and squares her shoulders, arms at her sides as she faces him, apparently preparing herself. He is bewildered by her compliance—either she was less sober than she let on, or she was truly determined to make this happen.

"Kiss me," Noelle commands quietly—though she might as well have said "fight" me, with the way she is looking at him.

Again, she had found a way to respond to his demand by issuing her own, that mixture of begrudging respect and annoyance resurfacing. The response is certainly a different version of the confirmation he had sought, but sufficient enough. After all, aside from an attempt to assert dominance, he had mostly been seeking explicit consent to avoid being hunted down by her the next day.

Though he finds the situation absurd and a mere obstacle to sweet solitude and rest, Yuno feels his heart rate pick up—in the same way it had at the close of their impromptu match a couple of weeks back.

"Fine," he finally says, standing straighter and stepping closer.

She squeezes her eyes shut, head tilted upwards, cheeks flushed, and it's almost comical because she looks like she's willing him to burst into flames with her mind.

Even looking as ridiculous as she does, he can feel himself grow warm, an unfamiliar anxiety spreading through his body as he clears his throat and moves closer to her.

"I'm going to do it now," he says.

"Fine."

Yuno steps forward once more, arms awkwardly pinned to his sides. With one last sharp inhale through the nose and a heavy exhale, he steels himself and bends forward. Taking one last look at her ridiculously concentrated face, he closes his eyes and presses his lips to hers.

Before making contact, it had been transactional. A way to feed his curiosity, maybe to have one strange secret win over his rival, while at the same time swatting this annoying fly of a woman away so he could be done with her.

But it is the _during_ that is confusing—confusing enough to have him linger against her. Her lips are soft and warm as she returns the chaste kiss with the slightest pucker and push, and it has his stomach fluttering, and there is just the smallest feeling of release and relief, as though it was something that had been bound to happen sooner or later.

He doesn't like it.

More specifically, he doesn't like that he likes it.

His duty now fulfilled, he pulls back, lips slowly peeling off of hers, feeling alarmed that he had actually found the experience pleasant—even worse, maybe _more than_ pleasant.

Yuno clears his throat when her eyes remain closed, watching them slowly flutter open in response.

They regard one another in silence for a moment, and he admittedly finds himself searching her face for some indication that she too had felt positively about the experience.

"Happy?" he grumbles just above a whisper, face still hovering close to hers.

She leers up at him, and there is a look in her eye that only serves to worsen the fluttering in his stomach and the strange yearning that has suddenly appeared.

"You call that a kiss?" she challenges in an equally quiet grumble.

He holds her gaze, confused at the sense of relief he feels as he recognizes the taunt for what it is—an invitation.

"Fine," he responds, maybe a little too quickly.

And again they're in a stare-off not unlike the one they'd had at the end of their impromptu sparring session—her expression challenging and determined, his bleary gaze cool and observant, that familiar energy sparking between them, urging that _something_ happen.

Noelle closes her eyes again as Yuno unfists his hands at his sides. He gently grips the sides of her upper arms and bends forward, closing his eyes once more as he presses his mouth to hers.

He can feel the chatter in his mind slowly die down as he focuses on the warmth of her lips, plush and soft against his. She then captures his bottom lip between hers, and he is intrigued by the sensation, mimicking her motions as he feels her hand slide onto his face, palm soft on his jawline, his own hands moving to rest on her hips. Their experimental lock is tender, exploratory and cautious, and even respectful, given the space that still existed between their bodies. The continued, gentle tug of her lips makes his head spin, the tenderness gradually beginning to dissipate as mutual confidence builds, giving rise to a sense of urgency in their motions.

With every second spent pressed against her, Yuno finds his body begin to grow restless, resisting the sudden urge to pull her in against himself. However, he is left with little choice the moment he feels her tongue lap up against his bottom lip—at which he reflexively sharply exhales, his tongue acting on its own accord to slide against hers as he pulls her flush against himself. Noelle hums a muffled yelp against his mouth at the sudden movement, but he learns it's not at all in protest when he feels her slide her fingers into his hair, gripping gently at his raven locks.

Then they pull apart, and he opens his eyes to find her grouchy facade gone as he stares into darkened, half-lidded magentas, her gaze heavy with want, eyebrows for once not knit together in annoyance, but raised as if in a daze, and it makes his stomach flip. He had technically made good on their agreement at this point, but has forgotten there ever even was an agreement, as he attempts to read her face to infer what should happen next.

Gone is the need to interpret anything when they begin to move slowly towards one another, that magnetic pull coming into play once more. It's not long until his forehead is pressed to hers, and both her hands are cupping either side of his face. He turns his head just slightly so his nose grazes hers, as he slides his hands onto the small of her back, pressing her in closer. She lets out a gentle gasp in response, and lets her eyes droop shut as she leans against him.

Yuno finds himself both entranced and tantalized by the steadily building anticipation as they remain still, breathing one another's air. He wonders what she's thinking as she stands in his gentle hold. Perhaps it is just now dawning on her that she was in a lover's stance with a half naked man she barely knew, who she didn't even like all that much. Perhaps she was having second thoughts—but he discovers just how wrong he is again, when he feels her pull his face in and press her lips to his once more.

Now, gone is the ability to think or even hold back, in its place hypersensitivity to her velvet lips on his, to her tongue, to her touch, to her scent, and all of it feels so goddamn good, and it is all so foreign to him. Everything is a blur, and he only realizes that they have descended onto the mattress when he feels the gravity shift from bending to hover over her, a hand planted on the mattress to hold himself up. He opens his eyes to the sight of her flushed face and swollen lips, her pigtails splayed on the sheets, all from their overenthusiastic kissing. He doesn't get to stare for very long, as Noelle pulls his face down and dims his world once more.

Rationality and sense have long left the room, because Yuno doesn't even think about how this was just supposed to be one kiss, per some stupid agreement. He doesn't even think about the fact that they had just come out of a conversation fully revolving around how wonderful Asta was, and how much she adored him. It feels like that might have happened months ago, maybe even in another universe, because nothing about the relentless and eager tug of her hands and her lips feels odd to him.

In fact, Yuno feels right at home, as it starts to feel like he's engaged in another version of battle and competition. With each escalating touch, it is as though he is running to catch up to her, and to ensure that he can best her at the stimulating sensations she has introduced to him, so he can make _her_ want it more.

To this end, he gently bites her bottom lip, dragging his teeth back slowly, and she gasps, stoking the fire already burning wildly within him because that there is another little victory, and he _loves_ to win.

He nuzzles her neck, frustrated by the collar blocking access to her skin, and almost immediately she responds in kind, the golden collar coming loose as she pulls it down just enough to expose her flesh.

So he takes in her scent as he trails kisses down her neck, gently suckling the flesh there, tugging the collar even further down, the sleeves sliding off just enough to bare her shoulders, as he peppers kisses there as well. Noelle hisses at the sensation, body writhing beneath his, gasping and moaning quietly with every kiss pressed onto her soft skin.

"Don't you _dare_ leave a mark," she breathes out, and he smirks against her skin and gently nibbles, dragging his teeth back slowly, eliciting a quivering gasp from the seemingly pleased royal. At this, she pushes against his chest all of a sudden, just a shadow of that grouchy expression she always wears playing on her lustful gaze as she pats the space next to her in invitation.

He obeys without hesitation, bending down to kiss her once more as he lays on his side—kissing her, as she forcefully pushes him over by the shoulder and crawls onto him.

Noelle settles into the straddle—before sharply flinching away, and then cautiously setting herself back down onto his lap.

"What is it?" he asks, taken momentarily out of his happy place, concerned that he had done something untoward.

"Your… I can feel…. _you_ ," she says quietly.

When what she is referring to dawns on his slow, inebriated brain, Yuno feels his entire face burn.

"Sorry," he says, cursing the heat rising in his cheeks as he tries his very best to maintain his stoic expression, now painfully aware of his hardening manhood pressed against her very warm crotch. "You should get off— _ah_ …"

He is mortified at having slipped out a moan—but it is all because she has begun to grind against him. And suddenly she is paces ahead of him again, the upper hand all hers as she continues her motions, apparently amused at his slip of expression that was a far departure from the stony mug and monotone he presented to the world by default.

"You don't want to do that," he cautions her, hands on her hips in an attempt to hold her still as he sits up. "It'll make it worse."

But she doesn't stop, and instead watches his face intently. He has never felt so exposed because he is just barely in control of whatever expression his face decides to make in reaction to the motion of her hips, his anatomy growing harder with each languid stroke.

"Noelle…" he hisses, trying to sound aggravated and threatening, but instead sounding begrudgingly aroused.

She slides her arms around the back of his neck again, one hand in his hair as she stares into his eyes, and they are nose at nose, breathing each other's air.

"Do you really want me to stop?" she breathes out against him, of course not stopping.

' _No,'_ he thinks automatically, weak and helpless under her magenta smolder.

"It... feels good, but—"

"Then shut up," she says, stifling any further objections with a kiss.

And now he is under her spell completely, a slave to the motion of her lips and her hips and her tongue. As he sinks further into the void, he wonders if this is perhaps a dream. At this point it's the only rational explanation for how far things have escalated—the only rational explanation for Noelle Silva bursting into his room demanding to be kissed, now sitting atop him and essentially dry humping him.

It is when he feels his body begin to tighten with inevitability that his fighting spirit comes alive. She had cornered him, put him under some spell by her scent and skin and mouth and hips, but he would _not_ give her the satisfaction of his full surrender. His resolve strengthened, he pulls her into a functional embrace, only to lift her again.

"What are you—?!" Noelle exclaims, reflexively wrapping her legs around his waist for security.

He carries her over to the armchair and sits back down at its edge, feeling some satisfaction at having cracked the cocky confidence she had been conducting herself with.

"I couldn't contribute from there," he remarks, eyes briefly flicking to the bed as he firmly plants his hands on her hips, sliding her up his lap to adjust their position, until he feels her damp warmth against the flimsy cloth of his pants once more.

She looks confused, then frazzled when he grinds back up against her clothed heat, the solid ground beneath his feet providing leverage enough to even the playing field.

"I wasn't—" she gasps as he rubs up against her again "—I wasn't asking you to," she breathes out irritably, finally registering Yuno's attempt at a power play.

He stares intently at her as he moves his hips again, watching her expression glitch in response.

"You're gonna come first," he says with finality.

Noelle looks taken aback, clearly not expecting him to verbalize and imply what had been her initial intent for him, her cheeks flushing harder.

"Don't make me laugh," she scoffs as she quickly regains her composure, firmly planting a hand on his shoulder, slowly stirring against him. He sucks in a breath through his teeth as subtly as possible, though the flicker of amusement on her face tells him the reaction hadn't gone unnoticed.

Now they are both moving against one another, almost clumsily, but effectively, eyes caught in an electric gaze, another competition of sorts now on the table, one attempting to drive the other to madness.

Almost forcefully, he pulls her in against him, kissing her with fervor, his hands sliding under her dress, both hands squeezing her pliable rear, eliciting something partway between a moan and a gasp into his mouth. He almost expects her to pull back in protest, and maybe even issue a slap to his face, but she only moves against him with more eagerness, arms tightening around him as he continues to grope her.

At this point, Yuno is admittedly just hanging on by a thread, and would likely have come long ago if not for the alcohol's reduction of his sensitivity. And even then, he feels himself inch closer to the edge as he pulls back just slightly to watch the pleasure blossom onto Noelle's face, which in itself is a small victory. It encourages him to move against her with even more zest, eliciting a whimper from her swollen, rosebud lips, her fingers gripping his raven locks as she draws in closer, pressing her mouth to his again. This time their kiss is sloppy and crude, tongues tangling, and they're not even bothering to close their eyes—and though there is just the faint shadow of her usual scowl on her face, her half lidded magentas peer into his attentive ambers with a submissiveness that is maddening all on its own.

Noelle then leans back and angles herself against him, one hand on his shoulder as she adjusts. And then he imagines something has gone terribly _right_ , because her mouth drops agape, her body beginning to tighten in his grasp, fingernails digging into his shoulder as she continues to roll her hips against him with renewed enthusiasm. He can feel his own breathing quicken just by watching the helplessness spread on her face, and it is so incredibly satisfying to know that he is responsible for the fact that she can no longer scowl or even speak, her face now awash with pleasure and lewd surrender as she peers back into his eyes. It has him moving against her with vigor, his own body tightening, all of it sending his mind higher, up and up and up to a peak without return—and then she lets out the most _desperate_ whimper, silver eyebrows arching up into an expression to match, and it shoves him right over the edge and he is _done_. Suddenly his body jolts and he is spilling out into his own pajama pants, grunting as his hips frantically jerk up into hers, hands gripping her tightly and holding her in place, all the while watching her eyes grow wide before they shut tight. She then lets out a strangled moan, falling onto him, pulling him into an embrace, face in the crook of his neck, moans muffled against his skin as her entire body shudders against his.

And then they are left panting, neither looking at the other, locked in a loose embrace, his arms encircling her lower back to hold her in place, as whatever spell had fallen upon them begins to lift slowly.

After a few beats, Yuno begins to register the uncomfortable sensation of his own seed smeared into his pajama pants, the reality of the situation slowly dawning on him.

They both seem to come back to earth at the same time, as neither one moves an inch to look at the other.

After some time, it is Noelle who gathers her courage first and shifts back, peering at him with her usual embarrassed scowl, though now it is glazed over by an exhausted glow, her cheeks flushed from their activities, lips swollen and parted just slightly as she continues to pant, her dress collar peeled forward and baring her shoulders. Even while technically physically satisfied and running on empty, Yuno begrudgingly feels his stomach stir at the titillating sight.

Now he is unsure of what to do—should he kiss her? Was that something one was supposed to do after something like this?

And then slowly, clarity begins to form as he recalls that he was _only_ supposed to kiss her as some part of a weird experimental request.

At the recollection, he is rendered dumbstruck at how far things had escalated.

When Noelle finally catches her breath, there is no declaration of love or admiration or explanation. Slowly, she backs off of his lap and he hates that the disappearance of her warmth and weight on him feels like a loss. She stands, dusting herself off, timidly staring at the ground as she turns around, her back to him while she adjusts her collar.

Yuno watches her fumble with the clasp and almost automatically rises to his feet, sensing her tense up as he steps towards her. Wordlessly, he gently shoos her fingers away from the back of her neck with his, and fastens her collar back into place.

His hands drop to his sides once the favor is completed, and they stand in silence.

Another beat passes, and she strides over to the door without saying anything or even looking back at him, but pauses when she places her hand on the doorknob.

"Goodnight."

And then she is gone, and Yuno is alone once more, staring at the door, wondering with each passing second if he had perhaps just risen from a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well THAT escalated.
> 
> Thanks again to all who left reviews/comments. They are legit my main motivation to take my potato-state drafts and mould something actually legible and enjoyable out of them, as they're a reminder that there are humans who are actually invested in this content. Anyone who left a thoughtful comment—this chapter is way longer and more fleshed out than the first draft thanks to you, so you can give yourself a pat on the back for that.
> 
> As a reminder—this is predominantly a rom-com fic (with a significant amount of smut sprinkled in there). There will probably be some canon stuff not addressed in the fic, because it is irrelevant to the story. If I don't mention it, you don't have to worry or think about it in the context of this fic :)
> 
> Speaking of smut... I'll probably have to bump this up to Explicit at some point. Jury's out on when that's gonna happen though.
> 
> Lastly, this fic has grown beyond 12 chapters. Sigh. It's tortuous being a writer who actually gives a shit about pacing. So, might I go mad and realize my devotion to this fic is unhealthy and just whittle down the story? Or will I persist and make it a loooot longer than I thought (it was only supposed to be 7 chapters initially smh)? Anything is possible at this point, so I'm going to stop giving y'all updates on how long it might be because it'll probably continue to fluctuate from here.
> 
> And… that's all. Go ahead and drop me a line on your way out—would love to hear what you think about our bratty couple's first steamy encounter, and even your speculations on what may happen next :)
> 
> See ya next time.


	5. A Battle for Confirmation

* * *

_**INFLECTION POINT** _

_**5\. A Battle for Confirmation** _

* * *

Yuno finds the cool spring air invigorating after a morning of willing his fatigued body to execute basic tasks, and willing himself to control his typically even temper. It is especially difficult to do the latter standing within a crowd of noisy magic knights, his head pulsing from the raucous chatter which was causing him a fair bit of agony and irritation, making his already barely sufficient social skills even worse. Nevertheless, he had been roped into some peripheral socializing as he was standing far too close to the Black Bulls, who were continuing to antagonize Asta by praising Yuno for his victory, while collectively guffawing at the unfortunate, faint remnants of a terribly misshapen penis drawn on his dear rival's right cheek.

Much to his own irritation, he finds himself passively searching the crowd for Noelle, and after some time, finally finds her standing next to Mimosa and a few other Golden Dawn members. Though he had seen her several times this morning, she hadn't shot him her usual scrutinizing gaze once. Her lack of nervous attention to him enables him to lean into his hypothesis that last night's salacious activities with the royal had indeed been part of some strange drunken dream. Recalling her fingers in his hair, the look in her eye, the roll of her hips against his, he figured any alternative was simply an impossibility, their relationship, or lack thereof, considered.

Upon waking, this had been Yuno's first conclusion. His head and body heavy, mouth dry from his excessive alcohol consumption, he had immediately noticed his soiled pajamas, which was the only evidence contrary to his "dream theory". However, even this could be rationalized. While wet dreams had not been frequent for him, he had indeed had them a few times before—though up until now, he could only recall details of the first, which he'd had when he was much younger (it had unfortunately been of Sister Lily, which had him avoiding both her and Asta the day after). Since then, he had been unable to remember the content of any subsequent dreams—save for last night's dream starring Noelle, which he remembered in _vivid_ detail upon opening his eyes.

After reasoning that one piece of potential evidence away, Yuno had been fully convinced of his dream theory, until he began to dress for the day and noticed a very slight sting on the back of his right shoulder. Upon gently running his fingertips over the area, he had felt small crescent shaped marks, and tiny bumps with the texture of scabs embedded in his skin, mind suddenly flooding with visions of darkened magenta eyes wide beneath mussed silver bangs, swollen rosebud lips agape, a soft hand clenching his shoulder.

Even with the potential secondary bit of evidence, he had decided to reason away that they were probably bug bites—and he had conveniently "forgotten" to check the mirror to confirm as much.

Otherwise, the morning's events had been normal enough, aside from the inordinate amount of effort it took to do anything and everything. He had dragged his hungover self down to the dining hall and downed perhaps a gallon of water to adequately hydrate, and had taken his breakfast out onto the deck—though not before locking eyes with the bratty royal that had inhabited his disturbingly crude dream. The gaze had lingered very briefly—and he had used the absence of any reaction from her as evidence to further bolster his theory.

And now, standing in this crowd, staring on at the royal, she doesn't turn to meet his gaze at all. At this, Yuno is fully convinced of his hypothesis and decides to put the matter to rest, looking back towards the lodge.

"Heard about your debaucherous night," he hears Klaus' voice approach, his conviction in his rationale almost immediately shaken.

Yuno throws his senior the sharpest glare he can muster, body suddenly tightening and on alert.

" _What_ did you hear?" he demands immediately, cranky from his exhaustion and hangover, and on edge from what he had just _definitely correctly_ identified as a strange dream.

"Uh, just your drinking contest with Asta," Klaus stammers, motioning over to his rival who was still whining about the markings on his face. Yuno sees that Noelle has joined the rest of the Black Bulls, taking her place next to Asta, appearing to do her usual lecturing, arms crossed, nose stuck up in the air.

"Probably not the best idea for an early morning like this, hmm?" Klaus says, cutting into his thoughts. Yuno rips his gaze from the royal once more, turning back to his senior with a nod, his faith in his theory now _slightly_ shaken as he begins to doubt whether his night had actually truly ended with the drinking contest.

"I'll be sure to refrain from such activities next time," Yuno agrees curtly.

"I'm only kidding," Klaus says warmly, with a smile. "You never do things like that anyway. It's alright to let loose once in a while."

Yuno does not return the smile, and merely nods.

It is after a few more minutes, that seem to last hours, that the captains emerge from the lodge to read out the group assignments. He subsequently hears Asta assigned to Group A, and when the roll call is done, they are told those remaining are assigned to Group B. He takes a look around to suss out his group for the day, finding Klaus by his side, his eyes eventually, and unfortunately, landing on one magenta eyed, silver haired royal.

* * *

After a short down-mountain hike, the pack of magic knights eventually arrive at a vast, flat field of green, pristine mountain stream and the forest's edge in the near distance. They come to a stop, chatter bubbling back up, until Captain Yami takes his place before the group.

"Though we may be on different squads, you all know full well by now that out there, the badge and the robe you wear doesn't matter. Not when you're getting thrown around by the enemy. At the end of the day, we're all ultimately fighting the same fight," the gruff captain barks, as he paces.

"Second, time is of the essence in battle. The winning blow can happen in a matter of seconds, and it can also all go south in a matter of seconds—but I shouldn't have to tell you that at this point."

He comes to pause, crossing his arms.

"For this exercise, we're putting your ability to play well with others and work against the clock to the test. Sounds fun, yeah?" he chortles, taking a drag of his cigarette. "We're gonna do two-on-twos, and you're gonna be paired with someone from the other squad at random. To win, you gotta pin down each member of the opposing team for twenty seconds to take them out of the game. The battles will have a time limit of seven minutes—I'll call out when it's one minute to time's up, and of course when the match is done."

Yuno withholds a sigh, now viewing what would normally be a simple and quick exercise as an unappealing chore.

"No killing allowed, of course. And last, losers have to climb to the peak of Mount Virhorn carrying the victors on their backs."

There is a pause and a few murmurs as Yuno stares out into the field, wishing he was in bed recuperating rather than out here on a glorified playground.

"Hah, just kidding. If you lose, the only punishment you get is the crushing feeling of inadequacy," Captain Yami says nonchalantly, before unfurling a scroll.

"This should be interesting, hmm?" Klaus says, cutting into Yuno's exhausted stupor. "Kind of reminds me of the Royal Knights exam."

Yuno fondly remembers his first public and successful usage of Spirit Drive—subsequently growing tense at the memory of carrying Noelle into the sky.

"Hah, it'll be half as difficult," Yuno mutters.

Captain Yami had already begun calling out names, and Yuno's his ears only pique when he hears his own.

"... team seven, Luck Voltia and Klaus Lunettes versus team eight, Yuno and Noelle Silva," comes Captain Yami's gruff voice. "Uh—Noelle Silva and Yuno. Whatever."

Yuno feels his entire body tense. It was just his luck that he'd have to work with her after having an uncomfortably erotic dream about her. Even so, ever the professional, he accepts the charge despite his discomfort, eyes scanning the crowd until they land on Noelle—who is standing just a few feet away, her hand already raised up in the air.

"Captain Yami," she calls out firmly. "I'd like to request a change of partner."

Around them there are some murmurs, and Yuno cocks an eyebrow, looking back at the captain, more curious than upset at the sudden request.

"Huh. Why's that?" the gruff captain inquires, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Our ability levels are too high together," he hears her say. "It won't be a fair fight."

At that, he looks back at her, finally finding her magentas fixed on him, challenging and fierce, taunting him by saying nothing at all. He is slightly taken aback by the weight of her gaze, as she had barely paid him any notice all morning. It is at this moment that he feels even more doubt about his theory from the very particular tension in his body that arises, his stomach fluttering.

"Hmm okay. Luck, you go with this guy then," Captain Yami waves him off. "Four eyes, you can go with Noelle."

Klaus shoots the captain a scowl before heading over to the royal, who does not shrink from Yuno's gaze, despite their lack of interaction the entire morning. The stubborn and cranky wind mage does not back down for a second—not even when the crowds disperse and she is striding toward him, coming to a stop before him, a few paces away, and all of the anxiety and tension he felt from just making eye contact with her heightens.

"You said you wanted to experience me in action, didn't you?" Noelle taunts, the smug glower on her face betraying the light flush of her cheeks.

Yuno looks down at her, deep in thought, only giving pause when he remembers the praise he had let slip by the fireplace the night before. He remains silent, embarrassed to have even revealed such a thing and is in no state to deflect, his wit coming in slow.

"Well, here's your chance," Noelle says, exhibiting the confidence she had carried towards the tail end of their conversation last night.

With that, she flips a pigtail over her shoulder and walks away, and Klaus raises an eyebrow at Yuno before turning to follow her.

"Luck," Yuno's mouth moves on its own, eyes still fixed on Noelle's receding form.

"Yeah?"

"Noelle is mine," he declares sternly.

"Aw man," Luck whines. "Fine, but when I take down her partner, I'm going after her too!"

* * *

It is with anxiety and admittedly a bit of excitement that Yuno awaits his turn. He recalls the match they'd had a few weeks ago—and while Noelle had been swift and challenging, her performance hadn't truly lived up to the hype he'd heard of the Battlefield Dancer. However, he _had_ caught her off guard, and she _had_ been significantly hungover—which he now understands is an awful handicap that he had truly underestimated. Perhaps today would be different.

As teams five and six fight, his anxiety takes precedence as he begins to recall last night with more detail. The memory of their conversation in the study had been strangely forthcoming, and even at some points playful, and it all made him deeply uncomfortable, if only for the fact that he had actually somewhat enjoyed the exchange. And then there was also the recollection of his cringeworthy praise of Asta, which he didn't so much enjoy.

Then he remembers the moments just before Noelle had stormed out of the room, and he feels his excitement fade into panic.

"Aw Yuno, are you worried about this match?" Bell asks, cutting into his thoughts.

He ignores her, now looking across the field at Noelle, recalling the flicker of the fireplace reflecting off of magenta eyes, just before they closed, her breath hot on his mouth, hand tugging him forward by the uniform—then, the little sprite flies into the center of his field of vision, hands on her hips.

"Are you alright? It's only that bratty royal and four eyes guy—shouldn't be difficult at all!"

Yuno says nothing, now staring past the sprite, who continues to fly into his line of vision wherever his eyes dart off to.

"Yeah," he finally responds, once irritated enough.

"Good!" she chirps cheerfully. "You have _me_ , so there's nothing to be worried about," she says, pinching his cheek.

With the wind spirit out of his way, his gaze falls back on Noelle, who is talking to Klaus—who looks briefly at Yuno, then back at Noelle, with a nod.

Shortly thereafter, his name is called, and he is standing on the field opposite Noelle, receiving her challenging and intense scowl. Normally he would smirk or taunt or do something to show how nonchalant he was about facing an enemy. However, in this moment, he can only focus on the way she is looking at him, and how his exhausted body comes alive with excitement, his adrenaline already pumping.

"Aaaand… _GO_!" Captain Yami bellows.

In a flash Noelle is armed with her valkyrie armor, and in another blink she is gone—then half way across the field, then gone, then five paces in front of him.

Yuno immediately ascends to the sky to watch her stab her lance into the place he had been standing, her eyes immediately meeting his as she looks up and glides through the air towards him.

' _Too fast…'_ he begrudgingly thinks as he watches her continuously disappear and reappear far too close to him.

So _this_ was closer to her full capacity—while she had been a handful during their sparring match, he can't help but think she might've been going easy on him that day because she is now keeping him on his toes—badly enough so that he is stuck trying to dodge her, unable to go on the offensive at all.

"Bell!" he immediately calls out, letting his ego take a backseat, if only temporarily.

"You got it!" the wind spirit exclaims.

" _Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Drive!"_ he calls out as he zooms forward to dodge another one of her blows.

Noelle slings a rapidly spinning disk of water his way, which he dodges as the green glow envelops his body, magic surging through him. Yet still, he is affected by his poor alcohol-related decision making last night, as he feels nowhere near as powerful as he usually does upon activating Spirit Drive.

Though concerned, he is certain he at _least_ looks as intimidating as he usually does, when he catches a shift in Noelle's gaze—a flicker of fascination and a moment of reprieve from her scowling.

" _Wind Creation Magic: Towering Tornado!"_ he exclaims, and the spiral of wind that takes shape is far wider and spinning far faster than it would have without the boost of both his mana and Mount Virhorn's combined. The tower of wind howls loudly, extending up into the sky, his robes flapping in the wind, as he wills it to cross the field in Noelle's direction—and he notes the teams below strengthening their stances to keep from blowing away at its sheer power.

Then Noelle disappears from sight—but in the next moment, intermixed with the spiral of wind is water, widening its circumference significantly, forming a monstrosity of their combined elements, spiraling violently, wind and rain dominating the field and darkening the sky. Now he is cold and wet, the spray of her water raining down on him, whipping in his direction, and the sky begins to darken as he wills the hurricane-like structure away from himself.

"YEEEHOOOOOOOO!" he hears what sounds like Luck exclaim from below, and he doesn't even have time to look down before the large spiral begins to crackle with the lightning mage's magic.

Then, he blinks and—

"— _Pay attention_."

A flash of magenta eyes and blue armor appear too close to his face, before the pain of being hit in the chest by the side of her lance is registered, his body flying down towards the ground from the unexpectedly heavy impact.

Yuno bares his teeth and quickly blankets his back with wind to halt his descent as he stands himself back up in the air, searching the now darkened and grey space for her, the torrent from their mixed wind and water disorienting even him.

Tuning into his senses, he feels her presence at his back, and immediately zooms out of the way.

" _TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!_ " he hears Captain Yami holler from the ground, over the thunderous howl of the wind and water. " _I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU INCITING NATURAL DISASTERS IS ALSO AGAINST THE RULES!_ "

Finally taking note of the worsening situation and the teams below now shielding themselves with various barriers made from their own magic, Yuno halts his tornado, the tower of water immediately disappearing with it.

" _Mana Zone: Spirit's Hushed Dance!"_ he says just in the nick of time to dodge another of Noelle's water discs.

And then she is gone and they are both flickers in the sky to all those on the ground watching, there and gone, there and gone, bodies a blue and green blur, moving past each other, away from each other, towards each other.

" _Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar!"_ Noelle cries, and he turns to his right to find her several paces away, the dragon bursting forth from the tip of her lance in his direction.

" _Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Bow!"_ he yells in turn, the dragon weaving to the right, the arrows coming out far larger and faster than usual, rapidly embedding themselves in the beast's body as it slithers away into the sky.

Yuno almost smirks in satisfaction, but then she has disappeared again, which he takes as his queue to as well. And then he feels her close in on him once more, and he narrowly dodges the swing of her lance as he moves back.

"Getting tired?" Noelle sneers as she sends a blast of water his way, which he swiftly dodges.

"You wish," he says, sending a blast of wind her way, which she immediately evaporates with her spiraling lance before taking another swing at him.

Again she appears behind him in a blink, and he feels increasingly more irritated and impressed at her speed as he rapidly runs out of stamina himself.

"You're going to have to learn to fight in close quarters at some point!" she taunts, again disappearing from sight, appearing right next to him, another swing at him narrowly missed.

"Remember that you asked for it," he retorts before flying several feet back to put some space between them.

" _Wind Spirit Creation Magic: Spirit of Zephyr!_ " he calls out, the majestic, glowing green saber appearing in his hands.

He doesn't have to wait very long until she is swinging at him again—but this time, he blocks the hit with his sword.

Catching her eyes where their weapons cross, he backs away and swings the sword down towards her, her spiraling lance coming to her defense as she keeps his blade at bay.

And now as the blade rests atop her lance, its erosive qualities at work, beginning to cut through the tip of the spiraling cone—and her eyes grow wide in response, clearly not expecting such an effect.

He smirks—but not for long, as a giant blast of water sends him flying back. Irritated from letting his guard down, he straightens back up and tunes in to feel her close once more, stopping her attack with another swift and well placed swing of his sword.

"You're not going to get anything past this," Yuno taunts as they clash weapons. Already she has taken his own weapon's capabilities seriously, never leaving her lance pressed to his sword for too long.

"I wouldn't get so cocky," she laughs, jumping back and blasting a spinning disk in his direction—which he easily cuts through, only to have her lunge towards him again, his arms working reflexively to swing his sword up to block her attack.

And then she is gone in a flash, and he quickly turns around to find her descending upon him again, eyes bright and fierce as she stabs her lance in his direction, his sword parrying it out of his way, and pressing down on it so she stumbles forward, their faces now close, amber and magenta meeting in an another heated gaze. At this, unwanted visions of exposed neck and collarbone and bare shoulders and flushed cheeks flicker across his mind, and it is so frustrating that he finds himself pressing down harder on her lance, ironically drawing her even closer, his leer intensifying.

"You're going to lose again," she says, seemingly unfazed at their proximity, even leaning in as though she's telling him a secret, voice low as she burns into him with her gaze.

"I think your memory's off," he scoffs, also _outwardly_ unfazed by her very close proximity, though his heart is pounding harder, and not all owed to the physical effort of their battle. "I've _never_ lost to you."

And then he freezes completely, still as stone when she leans in close, mouth at his ear, hot breath felt against his skin.

" _You_ came first."

He is completely winded, paralyzed, eyes growing wide, shell-shocked at the sudden confirmation of what he had been denying all morning. Now, unable to move, time seems to pass in slow motion as Noelle backs off, magentas dark, a smirk on her lips, and it's the last thing he sees before the shock of actually physically being winded takes over, her form receding into the distance as he is swept away, belatedly registering that he is caught between her dragon's teeth and rapidly hurtling down towards the battleground.

With a growl, Yuno spins and slices through the beast with ease, blade in hand, still shaken from the mental, emotional and physical shock. Even with Spirit Drive activated and Spirit of Zephyr in hand, he had not managed to land a single hit on Noelle. On some level he even suspects that in his current shape, she didn't even need her valkyrie armor to defeat him—not when his power levels were this low, _and_ she had been armed with an immobilizing secret weapon like _that_ the entire time.

Teeth grit, he spots her high in the sky and zooms back up in her direction, but she sends a blast of water his way, which he cuts right through, only to have her appear before him and ram into him with the side of her lance, his sword blocking her advance as she blasts full force ahead, launching them both back down towards the battleground, the feeling familiar and _almost_ welcome as he stares up into her smug, magenta leer, glowering all the while, unable to think about anything else besides the fact that last night's activities had indeed occurred.

But then as the ground grows closer, Yuno snaps back to his senses and conjures a spiraling floor of wind beneath them as resistance so as to prevent their rapid descent, and takes note that his sword is slowly whittling away at her lance—which, much to his dismay, only refreshes and regenerates with more water, now that she has caught on. Today, she is far too strong and confident, willing her magic and strength into overdrive as she presses forward through the resistance, his wind caving in under her will.

Yuno bares his teeth and tries harder, feeling himself sweat as he glowers into her equally challenging gaze, his exhaustion finally taking over.

And in the next second, he finally registers the disappearance of his wind beneath his back, Noelle's spinning lance in his face as he feels her weight seated atop him once more, eyes fixed on his.

Again they are panting heavily, the air sparking with their heated competition, palpable disdain and begrudging respect for one another. It does not help that the sight of her sitting atop him, neck and shoulders bared, her dress peeling off just so, flickers across his mind as he registers the embarrassing conclusion of their battle.

Yuno catches his breath, and the green glow dissipates as he finally accepts defeat, as does her armor, leaving her wand pointed straight at his face.

"HAH! _Alright_ Noelle! His big shiny sword was still no match for you. Very impressive," Captain Yami chuckles, and Yuno is left ruminating on the poor word choice as his eyes remain fixed on hers.

" _But_ ," Captain Yami continues, "Neither of you win. The match ended five minutes ago. In fact, I'd say you both lost, since you failed on both the time and teamwork fronts."

He wonders how they had managed to miss the ending of the match, as does she, judging by the shock on her face at the fact.

At this moment, he finally registers her cheeks tinted pink, expression somewhat bashful, and at that is quite literally floored at the confirmation of last night's activities, feeling his own face uncharacteristically begin to burn, much to his chagrin.

"Still—good job, Noelle. Feel free to get off him whenever," Captain Yami says. "No need to rub it in."

Another poor choice of words—and the way Noelle's cheeks color further tells him she has the same thought. After a beat, she finally rises up off of him, and he takes a moment before standing up.

Once he is up, they have yet another stare down—he can hear Luck say something about their team having won anyway due to his victory against Klaus, but it is all background chatter, mind still acclimating to the reality of last night's events as he plays back through them, everything coming in far more vividly as he stares into her eyes, a satisfied scowl on her face.

Unsure of just how to feel at the news, and in no state to attempt to decipher what her gaze means, Yuno turns and walks away, Klaus in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll get a glimpse into Noelle's perspective later on, but please enjoy this frazzled and begrudgingly horny Yuno for now :)
> 
> Thanks again to all who left reviews. Y'all really make my day. And, a special thanks to those who came to this fic's/my defense when a Yunoelle anti was the first to comment on the last chapter a couple of weeks ago (an anti who potentially was having a convo with themself in the comments under different usernames lol).
> 
> Sidebar, for some subtle Yunoelle deliciousness, a lovely anon tumblr notified me via tumblr of the latest 2020 Black Clover popularity survey, where our ship is sitting close, clothes color coordinated, looking hot. Please do yourself a favor and take a peek.
> 
> See ya next time!


	6. Aftermath, Part 1

* * *

_**INFLECTION POINT** _

_**6\. Aftermath, Part 1** _

* * *

A few hours after the match that had become the hot topic of the day, Yuno finds himself sitting alone at the empty end of a communal table in the backmost corner of the dining hall. Hidden by a cluster of Golden Dawn knights seated at the communal table before him, he hunches over his dinner in the hopes of avoiding anyone and everyone he knows on a personal level, as he is a far cry from his typically calm, cool and collected self.

Still reeling from both the confirmation of last night's events and his embarrassing moral defeat, his mind is awash with scenes from the last twenty-four hours as he attempts to come to terms with all that had unexpectedly transpired. He had become so shaken that he had snapped at Bell and demanded to be left alone for the remainder of the night after her incessant attempts to "cheer him up" (which consisted mostly of badmouthing Noelle) had become too much for even _him_ to handle. Fork in hand, he resolves to eat as quickly as possible and return to his room to properly process the day's—and last night's—events in the comfort of pure silence.

 _Yet_ , as luck would have it, he spots a familiar head of red hair in the distance, weaving through the packed dining hall in his direction. He hunches a little bit more over his meal to avoid detection, but to no avail.

"Hey!" Mimosa greets him in her typical chipper manner, likely perceiving his antisocial behavior as normal.

"Hey," he replies, shoving a forkful of steak in his mouth as she takes a seat across from him, and he finds himself even more pressed to clear his plate faster.

Mimosa begins to work on her own meal in silence, a mildly amused expression on her face as though there's a hot topic of interest sitting at the tip of her tongue just waiting to burst forth. As she opens her mouth to speak, Yuno feels himself grow weary in anticipation of what she's about to throw on the table.

"So…" she begins, a twinkle in her mirthful lime green eyes, "I heard you and Noelle got kind of crazy."

She is most certainly referring to the match, but Yuno immediately chokes on his mashed potatoes anyway, his mind going to a far less chaste place.

"Group A felt the hurricane from further up the mountain. The sky got dark and it started raining all of a sudden! It was kind of scary—are you okay?" Mimosa queries, eyeing him curiously as his coughing and sputtering finally ceases.

He guzzles down some water and sets the cup down gingerly after successfully dislodging the food from his windpipe. Mildly relieved at the confirmation of the context of her vague and potentially incriminating phrasing, he surmises that Noelle had refrained from sharing details of their "tryst" with her cousin.

"Yes," Yuno says as he clears his throat and resumes eating, making every effort to appear as normal as possible.

"Well, yes," he continues, gathering his bearings as he scoops up another forkful of mashed potatoes. "I suppose we got a little carried away."

It is visceral, the way his body immediately conjures an image of Noelle sitting atop his lap, hands twitching as they recall the sensation her soft rear in his grip, body warming as he recalls the way she had moaned into his mouth. This time, there is no one else's stupid phrasing to blame but his own. To add insult to injury, he is rendered even more dumbstruck that the scene that had come to mind was not some odd fantasy or dream, but a _memory_.

At this thought, Yuno forcibly shoves his loaded fork into his mouth, as if doing so would somehow save him from any further scrutiny from Mimosa. However, it is not the mashed potatoes that save him—it is her attention diverted by something or someone else. The momentary relief quickly dissipates, and feels dread take over as he watches the redhead turn, face brightening with a smile.

"Oh—there they are," she mutters more to herself than him, as she juts a hand into the air and waves. "Noelle! Asta! Over here!"

And again, at the sound of the two names in succession, Yuno feels anxiety begin to spread through his body, hands growing clammy, his eyes laser focused on his mashed potatoes as he continues to rapidly fork them into his mouth in an effort to hatch an escape from this impending dinner from hell. As he hears Asta's boisterous laughter grow closer, his dread reaches its height, and he is left glaring at his steak and mashed potatoes when he realizes that he has been bested by his own meal, and that he would now have no choice but to entertain the unwelcome company headed for his table. Steeling himself, he glances up momentarily to see his rival and the bratty royal standing by the table on Mimosa's side, then wills himself to calm down and assume his stoic exterior, taking in a subtle deep breath as Asta rounds the table to sit next to him.

"I heard about your match!" Asta beams as he takes his seat.

Yuno looks down at his food, tensing as he watches Noelle take a seat across from Asta and next to Mimosa in his periphery.

Once she is sat, he can feel her eyes boring holes into the side of his head.

"I mean, I _saw_ part of it too, kind of," Asta continues, and all Yuno can do is continue to shovel his food into his mouth as he avoids the royal's gaze. A few bites in, and he finds himself wondering if she, too, was feeling as tense about the situation as he was.

"You guys made it rain all the way up the mountain! Man, that must've been crazy to watch. I'm mad I missed it!" Asta exclaims as he saws away at the thick steak on his plate.

"Mmhmm," Yuno hums through the food in his mouth, refusing to look in Noelle's direction.

"But, wait, who won again?" Asta inquires as he jams an inordinately huge cut of steak into his mouth.

Chewing through the food in his mouth, Yuno readies himself to reply, but is beaten to the chase.

"Well," Noelle begins, the very sound of her voice causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end, "it—"

"It was a draw," Yuno reflexively interrupts through a mouth half-full of mashed potatoes, and in an instant his eyes are on hers before he even registers that he has moved his head at all.

It is a mistake, he quickly realizes, as Noelle's cool and knowing magentas hold his gaze with no trouble at all. No, she did not seem nervous or anxious, and even seemed as though she was relishing in _his_ anxiousness. Though he is momentarily taken aback at how unfazed and even arrogant she seems, he quickly acknowledges that he should have expected as much from her bold and completely inappropriate reference to their night together during the match.

He finds himself fully annoyed, amber eyes slightly narrowing as he stares on, irritable, yet somewhat excitable energy beginning to thrum through his body.

"On a technicality, though," Noelle shoots back smugly, snobbiness infusing every syllable, and he momentarily struggles to remember what they are even talking about. "We went outside of the time limit—I would've won otherwise."

Her gaze is unwavering, tone cocksure, and it all awakens a new kind of irritation, given that _how_ she won was completely underhanded. His competitive nature awakened once more, the desire to put her in her place is at the forefront of his mind, taking its place far above any shyness at what had occurred between them.

Yuno swallows his food down and takes a sip of water, never once breaking eye contact.

"Not necessarily. At the time the match was _supposed_ to end, we were still fighting, meaning it was fully a draw," Yuno insists, wondering if he is still at least appearing to be stoic, or if it is clear that Noelle is indeed getting a rise out of him.

"Well, you can ask anyone who was there," she replies calmly and cockily with a light laugh, apparently addressing Mimosa and Asta, though her eyes are still fixed on his. "Didn't look much like a draw."

She gives one small sassy shrug of her shoulder and it makes his blood boil—and he is confused that the way his temper flares is not completely owed to anger or annoyance.

"Well," Yuno begins darkly, troubled by how unperturbed she is at the intensity of his gaze, because he can _feel_ himself glowering in a way that is usually intimidating to others. "Per the _rules_ —"

"Wait!"

The interruption comes from Asta, muffled through the food he is simultaneously chewing, and the abrupt command finally breaks whatever trance Yuno and Noelle had fallen into.

"How did you even end up going past the time limit?" Asta inquires before gulping down his food.

The inquiry dredges up the feeling of her mouth at his ear, uttering the words that were apparently more damaging to him than any amount of royal or spirit magic could have been in that moment, and he finally gives in and tears his gaze from her, looking back down at his plate.

"I guess we were too high up and didn't hear Captain Yami," Yuno says curtly before taking more food onto his fork.

"I heard that Captain Yami just started the next match because they couldn't see you when it finally ended," Mimosa says with a chuckle. "You guys were probably moving _way_ too fast."

For some reason, the word choice makes him sweat, and he finds his eyes wandering over to Noelle, who catches his eye and seems to have tensed up in the slightest as well, before she looks away.

"Wow," Asta swallows down his food, then clears his throat and looks back and forth between them. "You guys were really going _that_ hard at it, huh?"

Yuno nearly chokes again at the odd phrasing, for it once more prompts the memory of her flushed face awash with desire and desperation hovering over his, her hips grinding on him, clothed heat rubbing up against him—but he is thankfully able to clear his throat just in the nick of time.

"I guess so," he hears Noelle say as he stabs his fork into another piece of steak.

He lifts it to his mouth, but his hand stops halfway when she says:

"And Yuno apparently couldn't handle it."

He reflexively grips his fork tighter before lifting it to his mouth, because she is so damn _annoying_ and her words drip with implication, and internal panic bubbles as he turns his head slowly to find her magentas trained on his eyes, cocky and filled with challenge and knowing.

'You _came first,_ ' echoes in his mind and suddenly his tongue is lead, his venom wit momentarily nowhere to be found. But as he chews through his food, the satisfaction on her face is enough to push him to fight back.

The second he swallows, his mouth moves on its own, yet again.

"Yes well, I guess I wasn't expecting that level of enthusiasm from you," he says, voice warning and silky and low and he surprises even himself at how it sounds.

But he does not regret his tone, because her face twitches in response, and at that, his mouth acts purely on its own once more when he says:

"Rest assured, I'll be better prepared next time."

And _now_ there is perhaps just a bit of regret because he finds himself tensing completely at the implication of a "part two" that he never intended to make. He watches her cheeks tint just the slightest pink, mouth folding into a slight frown as she looks down at her plate to gather some food onto her fork.

Despite the dangerous words, he cannot help but feel _good_ about how irritated she now seems.

' _I win.'_

"You're gonna do it again?!" Asta barks excitedly through a mouth full of food, shattering the comforting momentary feeling of victory as he begins to sweat once more. "Well let me know so I can watch next time!"

Asta's words have Noelle choking on her food, her face now glowing a very noticeable pink. Despite his own discomfort, Yuno feels at least some measure of satisfaction at watching her finally lose her composure.

However, no longer willing to subject himself to this constant barrage of anxiety and intensity, he finally throws in the towel and rises to his feet, feeling everyone's eyes on him—the coughing Noelle included.

"It's been a day," Yuno says, making eye contact with everyone but her. "I'm gonna go rest. Excuse me."

He picks up his tray, climbs over the bench and heads over to the trash bin without looking back. Still, he manages to hear Asta say, "You really wore him out huh?" and what sounds like another coughing fit from the silver-haired royal as he walks away.

* * *

Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted from the events of the past twenty-four hours, Yuno dresses down to his boxers (his only packed pair of pajamas now out of commission thanks to last night's events), stows his grimoire away, and slumps into the armchair near his bed. Doing so only brings about memories of the last thing that he did in such a position, a shiver running up his spine as his body all on its own recalls the weight and warmth of the bratty royal that had straddled his lap in this very place less than a day ago.

He swallows, his memory coming back fuller and more vividly now that he is alone and no longer able to deny that everything he thought he had imagined had truly transpired. It all comes flooding back, but in a different context now—the feeling of her hands in his hair, her tongue hot on his, face flushed, half-lidded magentas pleading and alight with desire, silver pigtails splayed on his mattress, her warm flesh beneath his lips, her body writhing beneath his.

At the recollection he feels his body begin to warm, his blood beginning to rush south. The discomfort of the memories and his unwanted physical reaction to them have him jumping up onto his feet and marching towards his bag to take out _Wizard Kings Past: A History of the First 25, Second Edition_ —his latest borrow from the Castle Town library.

With a clammy hand, he opens the thick volume over to the second chapter as he steps forward and cautiously takes a seat in the now tainted armchair. He clears his throat and very carefully leans back into the chair and begins to read—or more _attempts_ to do so. After some time, a glance at the clock on the wall tells him that he has been stuck on the same paragraph for at least half an hour, needing to re-read each sentence, because every few words are interrupted by the thought of Noelle in some sort of compromising position.

Frustrated by his own lecherous and uncontrollable thoughts, he grits his teeth and sits up straight in an attempt to focus better. He all but glares down at the book in his lap as though it is an opponent, and takes a deep breath with every intent to read _the hell_ out of it—

—until the sound of knuckles rapping against his door pulls him immediately from his short-lived moment of clarity. The familiar rhythm and force of the knock have him tensing up considerably, and he finds himself silently cursing the way his body had jumped alive, and how easily his attention had been swayed.

Then there is a pause. Holding onto the morsels of whatever dignity he has left after the past day, he bites his tongue and does not respond to the knock—though, he internally admits to himself that just one more knock would have him rising to his feet faster than he'd like to admit.

And so, Yuno continues to stare up at the door in anticipation. But, after a few beats, the silence persists, no follow up knock or voice heard.

He allows himself a few more seconds to stare at the door with what he refuses to admit is hope. Then, when nothing follows, he curses the strong and inexplicable sense of disappointment felt before he redirects his attention back to his book and attempts to read once more.

* * *

_The vast field is bathed in a warm orange glow as the sun continues to set. He looks around to find himself alone in a familiar place—what he recognized to be the head of the plains at the southeast exit of the city, right outside of the Golden Dawn Headquarters. He then looks down at his own hands to find himself glowing as well—that familiar, bright Spirit Drive green blanketing his figure._

_Unsure of why he has Spirit Drive activated, and why he is standing alone on this field, he turns around—_

— _only to immediately take a harsh blast of water to the chest, winded as he stumbles backwards, catching himself as he finds his footing and steadies his stance._

_Regaining his composure, he looks up to find himself staring at Noelle Silva in her Valkyrie Armour, a familiar smirk on her face. She strides towards him casually, taking her time, and he finds himself glued in place, eyes roving up and down her figure, noting that there is not a single piece of clothing to be found beneath her Valkyrie Armour. At the realization, he feels the heat rise in his cheeks, feels his face shift to express his surprise, and watches her notice, her smirk widening._

_At this, he wills his face back into its typical stoic state, refusing to wilt under her gaze. But then she splashes his face with water again with that cursed spiraling cone—this time, a small, almost playful spray as opposed to the initial punch to his chest—and he wonders why he hasn't yet tried to fight back. Even with full mobility, he finds himself incapable of summoning anything combative—though as she draws closer, he begins to walk backwards to maintain the distance between them._

_She parts her lips to speak, and he is captive, despite the fact that he is continuing to distance himself from her physically._

" _Who would've thought a stiff like you would be such a pervert?" Noelle queries playfully, voice low and silky._

_At the accusatory dig, he feels his face warm as he narrows his eyes at her._

"I'm _not the pervert," he scoffs—and he is stunned when she disappears for a moment, in the next beat appearing right in front of him, far too close for his liking._

_Yet still, it has him halting his recession, feet now glued in place._

" _No?" she asks coyly as she stares up at him, and though she is not at all touching him, he can feel himself tense up considerably._

" _You don't like my outfit?" she asks, and he reflexively gives her another once over before catching himself and looking away to let out an exasperated "tsk"._

_She takes another step closer to him._

" _You don't_ have _an outfit," he murmurs, words coming out half-heartedly sarcastic, as though the observation of her nakedness beneath her armor is supposed to be some sort of insult._

_Then he feels her hand press gently against his chest, and nearly gets whiplash from how quickly he turns his head to look down at her._

" _You're right," she says quietly, standing on her toes and gripping the front of his wet robe and pulling him down towards her so that she is at his ear, breath hot on his skin, the sensation all at once discomfiting and familiar and welcome._

" _Do you like it?" she whispers._

_He lets out a shaky exhale at the sensation of her words and her breath at his ear, and he clenches his fists for fear of what his hands might do._

_He remains silent and still for a moment, willing himself not to give in to whatever sick game she was playing._

" _... aren't you cold?" he lets out with an airless, unimpressed laugh, somehow managing to muster his typical sarcasm despite the fact that his blood has begun to rapidly rush south._

_Noelle lets her heels fall back onto the ground so that she is standing before him once more, and he can't help but take in the few places where her flesh is exposed. Though the armor is relatively conservative, his imagination and her odd behavior are enough to make the look into something extremely indecent in his mind._

_And then her hand is gently pressed to his cheek, snapping him out of his charged reverie._

" _Very," she replies quietly, looking up at him through her eyelashes._

_She slides her hand down the side of his jaw and back down to his chest and grips his robe again, this time roughly pulling him down towards her so they are nose at nose, and his restraint almost immediately disappears as he finds himself clenching his fists tightly at his sides once more._

_He stares down at her, her magentas directed at his mouth, then back on his eyes as she leans forward just the slightest bit to brush the very tip of her nose against his._

" _Will you warm me up?" she whispers, breath felt on his mouth, and he grits his teeth, his restraint long gone._

_He sucks in a breath through his teeth and leans forward to—_

* * *

—sit up right in his bed and stare straight at the door, breathing heavily as the scant light of dawn filters in through the curtains.

Wide eyed, Yuno slowly reclines back onto his bed to stare at the still-darkened ceiling, horrified at what he had just dreamt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to all who left comments/reviews in the interim! I appreciate it more than you know. They've definitely been incentive to not walk away from this story, because it really has grown into something other than what I had originally planned. Also wanna give a quick shoutout to the regulars I haven't heard from in a while. I miss y'all and hope you come back some day!
> 
> In other news, I am still not caught up on the series, and am aware lots of things have happened since. Please continue to suspend your disbelief about any new facts that might not match up, because I know nothing! 
> 
> Stay tuned. More excruciating tension and spiciness to come :)


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